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Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT project

She states she was breached by police. Now she's brainstorming an AI -integrated app with a panic button that notifies private security to help other women caught in South Africa's tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be recognized, is among the more than a third of South African ladies that will experience physical or sexual assault in their life times, according to UN figures.

Slender and outspoken, she remained in a group of around 15 women who collected late January to workshop the most recent upgrade of the app established by the not-for-profit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that deploys security officers, an evidence vault and bahnreise-wiki.de a resource centre, the app will also include an AI -driven chatbot called Zuzi that will be showcased at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris this month.

The app has an emergency situation button that releases gatekeeper, an an AI -driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to offer me that hope ... that my human rights need to be thought about," Peaches told AFP, asking not to give her genuine name to secure her security.

There were more than 53,000 sexual offences reported in South Africa in 2023-24, consisting of more than 42,500 rapes, according to authorities figures.

That same year, 5,578 women were killed, annunciogratis.net a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, vmeste-so-vsemi.ru she said she was forced to give two policemans "services for totally free" to avert arrest for prostitution.

"To me, GRIT isn't simply a job-- it's a need," creator Leanora Tima informed AFP.

"I wanted to develop tech-driven services that empower survivors, guaranteeing they receive the urgent aid, legal guidance and emotional assistance they need without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported because victims deal with preconception or trademarketclassifieds.com are turned away by authorities, said GRIT lead researcher Zanele Sokatsha.

'There's a lot of roadblocks still in getting gain access to and aid,' Sokatsha says

"There's a lot of roadblocks still in getting gain access to and aid," she said.

Thato, a woman in her 30s, said she sustained years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she found aid was available.

A passionate football player, she said her coach realised that "some bruises were not in fact associated to football".

It was just when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV occasion in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she found out there were organisations that assist women in her circumstance.

"It was really heartwarming for me to discover such an area," she said, preferring to offer just her very first name.

GRIT's app aims to make it easier for ladies to gain access to resources from their homes, where much of the abuse happens.

It has a map of close-by clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can upload proof like photos, videos and cops reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.

The functions are based on user feedback collected at workshops around the country.

"It will save lives," said one lady at the very same workshop attended by .

The app is totally free, funded by GRIT's donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It already has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, it can work without data, making it available to those who can not pay for phone strategies or remain in rural locations with minimal networks.

The chatbot Zuzi, to be launched in the coming months, will be available on the app and likewise incorporated into certain social platforms, technical lead Lebogang Sindani said.

Zuzi was initially meant to offer only useful details, like how to obtain a security order.

But its repertoire has been widened after feedback "that individuals are more interested in talking with Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they know' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist ladies who are assaulted and strong public condemnation of cases that make it to the media, South Africa's abuse rates remain stubbornly high.

It is "an ideal storm" of a complex history of colonisation and library.kemu.ac.ke partition, belief in male dominance, a lack of great role designs and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Country.

"No young boy is born an abuser," said Wilkinson, whose nonprofit concentrates on reaching guys. "There's something failing in the journey from young boy to guy."

"All they understand is violence," said Sandile Masiza, an organizer of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's kid well-being authority.

"We need more programs that are not simply going to be entirely concentrated on victim assistance, however criminal prevention," Masiza said.

"Society has actually normalised violence against females and girls," UN Women GBV professional Jennifer Acio told AFP.

"That's why we keep sharing details and attempting to empower women ... to understand what is an abuse of their rights, to understand when to report."