inFORMed: Trauma-Informed AI Guidance for Protection Order Applications in South Africa

South Africa has some of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world, and this is a present crisis, not a historical one. Police statistics show over 100 rapes reported and around 15 women killed every day, and Parliament puts the femicide rate at five times the global average. In November 2025 the government declared GBV and femicide a national disaster, yet by September 2026 nine women had been found murdered in Ekurhuleni in just two months.

Protection orders are a critical first line of defence, but many survivors cannot navigate the process alone. During court visits, GRIT's team watched a legal aid worker spend 2.5 hours helping one woman complete her application while others were turned away. In our survey, 84.2% of survivors wanted step-by-step guidance and 78% needed help writing their statements. inFORMed grew from these findings.

South Africa's protection order system exists to keep survivors safe, but in practice it favours applicants who are educated, urban and fluent in English. Forms are written at a level that assumes post-secondary education, procedures are confusing, and legal aid offices are overwhelmed. In our survey, 42% of applicants did not receive a protection order, and 42.1% said the forms were never explained to them. Survivors describe long queues, not knowing which forms to complete, and having to convince officials their case was serious. Applications are often rejected for poor preparation, and many women lose faith in the legal system entirely. The result is a justice gap where protection exists on paper but is out of reach for those most at risk.

Support survivors to complete protection order applications independently, with trauma-informed, step-by-step guidance in their own languages.
Enable survivors to describe their experiences in clear language that courts accept.
Build survivors' legal literacy so they can advocate for themselves.
Reduce pressure on legal aid staff so they can focus on complex cases.
Pilot inFORMed with legal aid partners in magistrate courts and measure its effect on application success and completion time.

inFORMed is an AI-powered legal navigation tool that helps gender-based violence survivors apply for protection orders in South Africa. Instead of facing a complex form alone, a survivor has a guided conversation. inFORMed explains what each section means, asks questions gently and at the survivor's pace, and helps them turn their experience into a clear, detailed statement. It then helps prepare a draft application they can take to court or to a legal aid adviser.

How it was built: inFORMed grew from GRIT's court visits, survivor surveys and community workshops. Survivors, community workers and legal professionals worked together to map the indirect language and euphemisms people often use to describe violence onto the legal categories courts recognise. This means survivors don't need to know legal terms, or disclose more than they feel safe to, before the tool can help. Legal experts reviewed the form fields and plain-language explanations so the guidance meets court requirements.

Ethical design: inFORMed is clear that it is AI, not legal advice. Safety protocols recognise crisis situations and connect people to emergency and counselling support, and high-risk or uncertain cases are flagged for human review. It collects only the information it needs and is designed with survivors' digital safety in mind. It supports human legal aid rather than replacing it. Advisers can use inFORMed drafts as a starting point, which frees their time for complex cases.

Access: inFORMed is designed for users with varying literacy levels and language preferences, with multilingual support, voice input and WhatsApp access in development. It is designed to connect with Zuzi, GRIT's multilingual WhatsApp tool, so survivors can move between information, support and legal help in one place.

What's next: inFORMed is at proof-of-concept stage. We plan to pilot it with legal aid partners in magistrate courts in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, measuring application success and completion time. After that, we aim to expand to other legal documents, such as affidavits, and to other jurisdictions.