Chatbot aimed at women and girls
READ: AI chatbot helps victims of digital sexual violence
Over 4,500 women and girls have engaged on the platform since its launch in March.
Topics vary between contraception, mental health support, sexually transmitted infection, HIV testing or treatment, gender-based violence, and more.
Doctor Alex Spyrelis, a Research Coordinator for Shout It Now, discussed this with eNCA.
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IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Innovative strategies by South African researchers to combat gender-based violence
Nangipha Mnandi, a research technologist at the South African Medical Research Council's Gender and Health Research Unit. Image: Supplied South African researchers are driving innovation and shaping the future in combating the scourge of gender-based violence, with some of their work already informing the country's policy. These emerging researchers are with the South African Medical Research Council's (SAMRC) Gender and Health Research Unit (GHRU). Notably, they are all PhD candidates. Nangipha Mnandi, a research technologist, said that the Siyaphambili Youth Project and Stepping Stones Creating Futures+ (SSCF+), which he has worked on, are research initiatives aimed at benefiting young people in resource-strained communities who are at risk of intimate partner violence (IPV), poor mental health, substance misuse, and HIV acquisition driven by several contextual factors. 'Through understanding the relationship between these contextual drivers, we designed and developed a scalable intervention that will reduce IPV and poor mental health risk among young people and strengthen their agency in challenging contexts. The key challenge we encounter with implementing such a project is the structural challenges of poverty and unemployment, which are mostly beyond our control but largely influence or shape IPV and poor mental health outcomes in marginalised community settings,' he said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Mnandi added that socio-structural challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and broader social hardships significantly influence the effectiveness of the interventions. 'Many young people face daily pressures to secure income or food for themselves and their families, which often takes precedence over attending scheduled sessions. Even though we strategically deliver interventions within communities to reduce barriers to access, attendance remains inconsistent. 'This is not due to a lack of interest or engagement, but rather the urgent need for participants to 'hustle' for survival. These realities highlight the importance of designing flexible, context-sensitive interventions that acknowledge and adapt to the lived experiences of the communities we serve,' Mnandi highlighted. He is currently working on the Zithandani (Couples) project, which aims to reduce violence in young heterosexual couples from urban informal settlements. 'Our data from the Siyaphambili Youth Project and Zithandani Project shows how poverty, violence, and masculine norms intersect to shape the poor mental health of young men. Our work reveals that while young women may experience higher rates of mental health challenges, however, young men are more likely to engage in substance misuse and suicide ideation, often as a result of unaddressed trauma and social expectations. 'The absence of fathers further compounds these issues, as many young men grow up without male role models in contexts shaped by apartheid and HIV/Aids. Young men's lived experiences are also likely driven by a desire to challenge harmful gender norms and promote healthier, more equitable masculinities,' Mnandi said. He added that two interlinked promising findings could be scaled up to other communities. 'First, the importance of engaging young people in a meaningful way in the development of projects and interventions. In both projects, we have worked hard to ensure young people are engaged. In SSCF+, we hired young people as Youth Peer Research Assistants (YPRAs) to co-create and deliver SSCF+, and this has emerged as a powerful strategy. 'This approach cultivates trust, ownership, and contextual relevance of the final intervention. Moreover, peer-facilitated community-based interventions can be very effective in improving health outcomes in communities with limited access to public healthcare services. Young people tend to be far more responsive to public health initiatives that involve their peers based in the same communities that they come from,' Mnandi said. Nonhlonipho Bhengu-Simelane, a senior research technologist at the South African Medical Research Council's Gender and Health Research Unit. Image: Supplied Nonhlonipho Bhengu-Simelane, a senior research technologist, said the Masibambane Ladies Chat, which she worked on, showed that digital platforms can increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) information and make peer support more reachable for young women. PrEP is a medicine that people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. 'One of the biggest lessons from the Masibambane Ladies Chat was that a gender-empowerment approach, delivered through an accessible platform like WhatsApp, can do far more than share information; it can shift mindsets. 'As facilitator and project coordinator, I saw how creating a safe, women-only space online encouraged honest conversations about HIV prevention, broke down stigma, and helped young women see PrEP as a personal choice they could own. The combination of peer recruitment, relatable content, and open dialogue built confidence, challenged harmful norms, and motivated women to take the next step towards protecting their health,' Bhengu-Simelane said. For the Ntombi Vimbela Study, she facilitated a sexual violence risk reduction programme for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, addressing mental health and resilience. Bhengu-Simelane said lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women need safe, identity-affirming spaces and trained providers. Group sessions built confidence, improved help-seeking, and highlighted gaps in mainstream services. She added that meaningful youth participation in every phase of the design, delivery, and evaluation is an important aspect. Zamakhoza Khoza, a research technologist at the South African Medical Research Council's Fedisa Modikologo Durban site. Image: Supplied Zamakhoza Khoza, a research technologist at SAMRC's Fedisa Modikologo Durban site, whose research engages young men incarcerated for sexual offences to understand their experiences, social contexts, and belief systems that led to their actions, said prevention and the eventual elimination of gender-based violence are impossible without tackling its root causes. She specialises in the rehabilitation and reintegration of male juvenile sexual offenders, and is running a SEED project within the GHRU. Khoza added that the Competitive Seed Funding Initiative is linked to her PhD, which focuses on co-developing a gender-transformative intervention for young men (18–25 years old) incarcerated in juvenile or youth correctional centres for sexual offences in South Africa. Valuable evidence over the past three decades has shaped the global understanding of GBV perpetrators, with much of this evidence being produced by the SAMRC's GHRU, she said. 'But for younger offenders, particularly those who enter the justice system and are incarcerated, there's still much we don't know. Most of the dominant theories in this area still come from the Global North; these theories may not capture the critical contextual, socio-cultural, and economic realities of the Global South. 'We need to incorporate local theories with the established theories from the Global North. We also need to broaden our lens beyond male perpetrators and heteronormative understanding, while recognising that the majority of offenders are male. Continued efforts should include research and prevention work with women and LGBTQIA+ perpetrators,' Khoza said. She added that correctional centre-based research demands careful navigation of trust, ethics, and power, which means ensuring participants don't feel further persecuted, while still holding space for accountability. Her long-term vision is for perpetrator-focused research and interventions to be recognised as a non-negotiable component of GBV prevention. Asiphe Ketelo, a project lead at the South African Medical Research Council's Gender and Health Research Unit. Image: Supplied Asiphe Ketelo, a project lead at the GHRU, who is dedicated to investigating gender-based violence (GBV), femicide, injury mortality, and male victimisation, said that during the Covid-19 period, there was a small but statistically significant increase in intimate partner femicide cases. 'Our 2020/21 study highlighted the critical role of alcohol in femicide risk during the pandemic. Periods of a complete alcohol sales ban saw a decrease in both overall femicides and intimate partner femicides, but once the bans were lifted, cases rose again. This 'natural experiment' demonstrated the substantial impact of alcohol on femicide rates and underscored the urgent need to address alcohol use in prevention efforts,' Ketelo said. Since 2020, Ketelo has contributed to high-impact studies, collecting data under the leadership of Professor Naeemah Abrahams on two national femicide surveys (2022, 2024), which have made significant contributions to national policy. Ketelo said the GHRU of the SAMRC has developed a Femicide Prevention Strategy, commissioned by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. 'This strategy draws on over three decades of GHRU research into gender-based violence and femicide. Although it has not yet been formally adopted, it has been presented at multiple government meetings, and we remain hopeful it will soon be implemented as a much-needed step toward reducing GBV and femicide in South Africa,' Ketelo said. Regarding her PhD research on women's use of violence against male partners, she said, as GBV researchers, in different spaces, they are often asked, 'What about men?'
The South African
a day ago
- The South African
SANParks gives latest update on Casper the white lion's condition
South African National Parks (SANParks) has confirmed that 'Casper', the well-known white lion frequently seen near Satara Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park, is alive and in good condition following public concerns over his health. Social media posts earlier this week raised alarm over Casper's appearance, with speculation that he might be suffering from anthrax or a snake bite, prompting calls for intervention from park authorities. In response, SANParks officials located and assessed the 11-year-old lion. According to a formal statement, both anthrax and snakebite have been ruled out after a physical examination. 'Casper has some injuries above his right eye and in his mouth, likely sustained during a confrontation with another lion. 'These wounds led to visible facial swelling and an infection, which sparked public concern,' SANParks said. Casper is considered an elder lion, now 11 going on 12 years old, and is one of two surviving brothers from a once-dominant coalition of four males in the Satara region. The coalition has since been usurped by younger, stronger males, a natural progression in lion hierarchy. Casper's distinctive white fur is the result of a recessive gene, not albinism, and has made him one of the most sought-after sightings for tourists visiting Kruger National Park. His rarity and majestic presence have earned him an almost mythical status among wildlife enthusiasts. SANParks has reassured the public that Casper is being monitored and does not currently require any intervention. Officials also thanked the public for their concern and ongoing interest in the well-being of Kruger's wildlife. 'While we appreciate the care shown, it's important to remember that Kruger is a wild environment where natural dynamics, including injury and aging, are part of the ecosystem,' SANParks added. Visitors are encouraged to continue reporting sightings of Casper and other wildlife through official channels. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
Marine experts present shark net alternatives at uShaka exhibition
A current exhibition at uShaka Marine World is challenging long-held views on shark safety with innovative, non-lethal solutions aimed at protecting both people and marine life. Launched last month, 'Shark Smart: How Do We Keep Sharks & People Safe?' marked the first phase of a national awareness campaign hosted by conservation NGO Wildtrust, in partnership with Shark Conservation Fund, the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, SharkSafe Barrier, Shark Spotters, Justice4Jaws, the Sharks & People Working Group and others. The exhibition brought together government officials, scientists and ocean advocates to explore alternatives to traditional shark nets and drumlines, which have long been used along KZN's coastline. Wildtrust's director of campaigns and communications Lauren van Nijkerk emphasised the importance of innovation to reduce harm to marine life. 'We focused on presenting both existing shark risk mitigation methods and potential non-lethal alternatives in engaging, educational and interactive ways.' Among the showcased technologies are sonar systems, artificial intelligence software, drones and the SharkSafe Barrier, which mimics kelp forests and uses ceramic magnets to deter sharks. The exhibition signals a shift towards co-existence, urging South Africa to lead in marine conservation while ensuring beachgoer safety. As the country grapples with balancing ecological responsibility and public protection, 'Shark Smart' offers a hopeful blueprint for the future. Currently, 13km of nets and 177 drumlines span 37 beaches, but their environmental toll is steep. More than 400 non-target marine animals, including dolphins, rays and turtles, are killed annually as bycatch. Ballito's Specialised Rescue Unit commander Quentin Power acknowledged the controversy surrounding the shark nets noting the environmental toll they take on marine life. Also read: KZN shark net replacement claims identified as hoax 'Due to their effectiveness in limiting sharks to bathing areas, nets don't discriminate. They trap anything and everything,' said Power. Wildtrust's senior scientist Dr Jennifer Olbers called for legislative reform and leadership in conservation. 'Our laws are outdated. Shark populations globally are under pressure, and two species – the largetooth and green sawfish – have already been categorised as locally extinct,' she said. Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news. Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here or if you're on desktop, scan the QR code below.
