Survivors of sexual assault in war given voice safely by Israeli tech

The scheme uses synthetic voices that translate first-person testimony into English while preserving the tone and emotional quality of the original voice.

Tech consultancy Generative AI For Good is responsible for the project. Tel Aviv-based founder Shiran Mlamdovsky-Somech told the JC: “We keep it as close to the real deal as possible while still keeping people safe.

“It’s important to keep survivors’ words and experiences as authentic as possible, be they from Syria, Sudan, or Ethiopia, or whether they are Druze, Alawite, Christian or anything else.”

The hope is that the initiative will encourage survivors worldwide to come forward without fear of repercussion or identification.

“There are many barriers to people sharing their stories freely,” Mlamdovsky-Somech said. “There is stigma, fear of punishment, and sometimes the shame is too big.”

She says the project, which works in partnership with numerous womens’ organisations and NGOs, is about “giving a voice to the voiceless” and using technology “in a sensitive, professional, and responsible way”.

Victims of conflict-related sexual violence around the world will be able to access the Generative AI for Good website for information on how to access support and to share their stories.

According to the Peace Research Institute Oslo, 676 million women and girls worldwide — around 17 per cent of the global female population — currently live within 50 kilometres of deadly conflict zones. This is the highest level since the end of the Cold War.

It means hundreds of millions of women and girls are vulnerable to conflict-related sexual violence, trafficking, slavery, and forced marriage. The UN reports that incidents of conflict-related sexual violence rose by 25 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

Tatiana Kotlyarenko is one of the world’s leading experts on human trafficking and gender-based violence and is involved with Generative AI For Peace.

She believes the medical and psychological resources currently available to support women and girls and enable them to share their testimonies are a “drop in the bucket” against what is needed to help the women and children affected by sexual violence across the world.

Kotlyarenko said: “We’re talking about massive numbers globally, so a significant proportion of victims are unable to even get to locations where they might be able to get effective support.”

She fears there are even less systems in place for men and boys, who may face greater stigmas and social exclusion for coming forward than women and girls do.

AI could provide an unprecedented opportunity to “raise awareness about this crime, which is so often committed with complete impunity, and to exert pressure on policy makers to enact change and implement accountability,” Kotlyarenko said.

She hopes Generative AI for Good, and artificial intelligence more broadly, will be the “beginning of a positive trend that will have a real impact on victims’ ability to come forward confidentially without putting themselves in danger. It will help to put a face to trauma and ensure the testimonies are heard, seen and not hidden.”

The AI for Peace launch event, held in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), will take place on Tuesday, December 9, and will be available to watch online. Alongside speeches from the project’s founders, the event will give voice to five women – among them Druze, Yazidi, and Ukrainian – sharing their experiences.