Gender activist Leonora Tima launched the mobile app Gender Rights in Tech (Grit) after a family member’s murder in Cape Town in 2020. The killing and its quiet aftermath pushed her to build a platform where people, mostly women, can record incidents of abuse, store evidence and ask for help.
‘Her death wasn’t published by any news outlet because the sheer volume of these cases in our country is such that it doesn’t qualify as news,’ she told K24 Digital.
Before developing the app, Leonora and her team spent months engaging directly with township communities across Cape Town to understand how victims of abuse communicate and seek help.
They surveyed hundreds of people, exploring how phones and social media are used to discuss violence and the barriers that prevent victims from reporting it.
Their research revealed a deep distrust of traditional support systems, with many feeling failed both by the lack of protection and by the repercussions faced when speaking out.
This groundwork shaped the app’s design to provide a safer, more accessible way for victims to share their stories and seek support.
Grit centres on three practical tools.
The app is free to use and has gained thousands of users since it launched.
Grit has reported around 13 000 users and logged 10 000 requests for help in September alone – a clear sign that people welcome discreet, tech-enabled options to seek assistance.
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Campaigners and researchers have praised the community-led design while urging care with AI in trauma cases.
‘I call them Large Language Models, not artificial intelligence because they engage in linguistic analysis and prediction, nothing more,’ a specialist in gender-based violence, Lisa Vetten, told BBC News.
She warns chatbots can give overly confident legal answers and cannot replace human counselling, but Grit’s team says the tool is intended to complement, rather than replace, trained professionals.
Grit has attracted international interest and support from funders and partners, such as Mozilla, the Gates Foundation and the Patrick McGovern Foundation as it scales.
Leonora frames the project as an African solution co-designed with communities to give survivors control and a safer route to justice.
‘We need to earn people’s trust. These are communities that are often ignored,’ she says.
To learn more about the app and its features, visit the website.
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