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

by Reina Monzon (2025-02-09)

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Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research study for classicalmusicmp3freedownload.com the GRIT project

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She says she was breached by police. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that alerts personal security to help other females caught in South Africa's unfortunately high rates of abuse.

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Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be recognized, is among the more than a third of South African women that will experience physical or sexual assault 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 newest update of the app developed by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).


Equipped with an emergency button that releases gatekeeper, an evidence vault and a resource centre, kenpoguy.com 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 button that deploys gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot


"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights ought to be thought about," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to give her genuine name to protect her safety.


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


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

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In Peaches' case, demo.qkseo.in she said she was required to offer two authorities officers "services totally free" to evade arrest for prostitution.


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


"I wanted to produce tech-driven services that empower survivors, ensuring they receive the immediate aid, legal assistance and emotional support they require without barriers," Tima said.


- 'Roadblocks to assist' -


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


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


"There's a great deal of roadblocks 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 found aid was available.


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


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


"It was really heartfelt for me to find such an area," she said, preferring to give only her given name.


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


It has a map of nearby centers 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 features are based on user feedback gathered at workshops around the country.


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


The app is totally 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 information, making it available to those who can not manage phone strategies or remain in backwoods with restricted networks.


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

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Zuzi was at first intended to supply only useful details, like how to obtain a security order.


But its collection has actually been broadened after feedback "that individuals are more interested in talking to 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 attacked and strong public condemnation of cases that make it to the media, South Africa's abuse rates remain stubbornly high.


It is "a best storm" of a complicated history of colonisation and partition, belief in male dominance, a lack of excellent role models and financial stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Nation.


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


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

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"We require more programs that are not just going to be entirely focused on victim assistance, but criminal prevention," Masiza said.

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"Society has normalised violence against females and girls," UN Women GBV expert Jennifer Acio informed AFP.


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

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