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

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

She says she was broken by police. Now she's brainstorming an AI -integrated app with a panic button that notifies personal 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 amongst the more than a 3rd of South African ladies that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, according to UN figures.

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

Equipped with an emergency situation button that releases security officers, an evidence vault and a resource centre, equipifieds.com the app will likewise consist of an 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 give me that hope ... that my human rights must be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to offer her real name to protect her safety.

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

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

In Peaches' case, she said she was forced to offer 2 policemans "services for complimentary" to avert arrest for prostitution.

"To me, GRIT isn't just a project-- it's a necessity," creator Leanora Tima informed AFP.

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

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported since victims deal with stigma or 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 states

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

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

A devoted football gamer, she said her coach understood that "some bruises were not actually associated to football".

It was only when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV event in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, prawattasao.awardspace.info that she learned there were organisations that assist women in her circumstance.

"It was actually heartwarming for me to discover such a space," she said, preferring to provide just her given name.

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

It has a map of neighboring centers and shelters and a digital vault where they can submit evidence like pictures, videos and macphersonwiki.mywikis.wiki police reports that will be protected on GRIT's servers.

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

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

The app is free, funded by GRIT's donors consisting of 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 manage phone plans or remain in rural areas with restricted networks.

The chatbot Zuzi, yogaasanas.science to be launched in the coming months, bytes-the-dust.com will be available on the app and grandtribunal.org likewise incorporated into certain social platforms, technical lead Lebogang Sindani said.

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

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

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist ladies who are attacked 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 an intricate history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male supremacy, a lack of great good example and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Country.

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

"All they know is violence," said Sandile Masiza, a coordinator of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's kid welfare authority.

"We require more programs that are not just going to be entirely concentrated on victim support, however criminal avoidance," Masiza said.

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

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