She says she was violated by police. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that alerts 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 identified, is among the more than a third of South African women that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, according to UN figures.

Slender and outspoken, she was in a group of around 15 women who gathered late January to workshop the latest update 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 include an AI-driven chatbot called Zuzi that will be showcased at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris this month.

"This app, it's going to give me that hope... that my human rights should be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to give her real 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........

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