AI App Offers a Lifeline For S.Africa's Abused Women - free

Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research study for the GRIT job

She states she was broken by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI -integrated app with a panic button that signals private security to help other ladies captured in South Africa's tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, historydb.date as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be identified, is among the more than a 3rd of South African females that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their life times, according to UN figures.

Slender and outspoken, she remained in a group of around 15 ladies who gathered late January to workshop the most recent upgrade of the app developed by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency button that deploys security officers, an evidence vault and a resource centre, the app will also consist of 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 security officers, an an AI -driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights must be considered," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to offer her real name to secure her safety.

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

That exact same year, 5,578 women were murdered, a 34 percent rise from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, she said she was required to provide 2 policemans "services totally free" to avert arrest for prostitution.

"To me, GRIT isn't simply a project-- it's a requirement," founder Leanora Tima informed AFP.

"I wished to produce tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, guaranteeing they receive the urgent aid, legal assistance and emotional support they require without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to assist' -

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

'There's a great deal of obstructions still in getting gain access to and aid,' Sokatsha says

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

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

A devoted football player, she said her coach realised that "some swellings were not really related 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 females in her circumstance.

"It was actually heartfelt for me to find such a space," she said, preferring to give only her given name.

GRIT's app aims to make it simpler for females to gain access to resources from their homes, where much of the abuse occurs.

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

The features are based upon user feedback gathered at workshops around the nation.

"It will conserve lives," said one woman at the same workshop participated in by Peaches.

The app is complimentary, moneyed by GRIT's donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It currently has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, it can work without data, making it available to those who can not manage phone plans or remain in rural areas with restricted networks.

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

Zuzi was initially planned to provide only useful details, like how to obtain a defense order.

But its collection has actually been expanded after feedback "that people are more interested in talking to Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to help 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 "a perfect storm" of a complex history of colonisation and partition, belief in male dominance, an absence of good role designs and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Nation.

"No young boy is born an abuser," said Wilkinson, whose not-for-profit concentrates on reaching men. "There's something failing in the journey from young boy to male."

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

"We require more programmes that are not just going to be exclusively focused on victim support, however perpetrator prevention," Masiza said.

"Society has normalised violence against ladies and women," UN Women GBV specialist Jennifer Acio told AFP.

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