31. South Africa’s Tech Savvy Hope for Victims of Abuse

Ronel Monet Koekemoer, from South Africa, discusses her work with Grit, a technologically innovative organization using AI to support survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. GRIT's initiatives include the GRIT mobile app, which offers a panic button, support services map, and a vault for storing important documents. They also have a generative AI chatbot named ZUZI, available in multiple South African languages, to provide support and information on gender-based violence. Ronel emphasizes the importance of self-care, community, and ethical AI development in their work. GRIT is primarily donor-funded and aims to scale their chatbot and expand their data set to better serve survivors.