From Dominatrix to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Campaign To Combat Intimate Image Abuse

Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents not at all your standard startup entrepreneur. After repeated occurrences of clients leaking her intimate photographs, she felt "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and looked to technology for answers.

"These were beautiful pictures, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I don't know," stated Madelaine.

Just over a year since founding her company, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to identify abusers, has won several awards and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study earlier this year.

This marks a significant shift from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage.

The Pervasive Problem

The non-consensual sharing of private images, often referred to as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with offenders facing up to two years in prison.

It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A study suggests that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by this form of abuse each year.

Madelaine, 37, explained victims lived with shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said.

"I expect dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are up for debate," she continued. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed in my community or with people I love and employed to cause them pain, that's beyond, that's not a decision I made, that's not an error on my part, that's an individual being an abuser."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for a decade and always found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she described.

"Some believe it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an accountant giving advice," she added.

She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I know that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a technology firm, but it required someone who has been through it to understand the loopholes and the modifications that were necessary," she stated.

She insisted she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many sleepless nights, investigation and "consulting experts" who know about tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people share images, for instance dating apps, social media and online sites.

When an image is accessed by a user, it is automatically embedded with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them.

This covert marker is embedded into the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a secondary device.

It means that if you find out your image has been circulated non-consensually, providing the platform you posted it on has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow.

Currently, one service has implemented her tech and she's in talks with several more.

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"The system is already in use in Hollywood, it already exists in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a novel use and a new system," said Madelaine.

"And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a company that has 30 years experience in tech development so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she continued.

She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a preventive measure to potential perpetrators.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An advocate from a support service commented she had seen directly the trauma and guilt intimate image abuse caused for victims.

"When that guilt is compounded by a uninformed acquaintance or professional who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's crucial that the response somebody is provided with is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized.

She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards addressing tech facilitated gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to tackle this alone, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when photographs of her in a state of undress were shared around her local community. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her teens and 20s that would later shape her advocacy work.

"It required years, too long for someone to say to me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," said Jess.

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the survivors to the offenders. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to distribute that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she affirmed.