đŸ”— Share this article From Professional Dominatrix to Tech Founder: A Unique Campaign Against Intimate Image Abuse Madelaine Thomas states her first-hand ordeal of experiencing her private photos shared without consent offers her a distinct perspective as a tech founder. BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies far from your standard tech founder. After multiple occurrences of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to tech solutions for a solution. "These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the manner that they were used against me by someone who I don't know," stated Madelaine. Madelaine has won several awards including the Tech Safety Innovation award at a prominent safety summit. Just over a year since launching her venture, Image Angel, which employs invisible forensic watermarking to track abusers, has won several awards and was recommended as exemplary procedure in an government-commissioned study earlier this year. This marks quite a departure from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters, working with clients in the world of kink and bondage. A Widespread Issue The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a punishable crime with offenders risking two years in prison. It is not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study suggests that around 1.42% of the UK female population is impacted by intimate image abuse on an annual basis. Madelaine, 37, explained victims lived with shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said. "I expect respect, I expect consideration, and I expect confidence, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she added. "The fact that those images could be then shared where I live or with my loved ones 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 someone being an abuser." Madelaine aims her tech will prevent potential individuals from sharing photos non-consensually. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for a decade and consistently found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is confident and powerful, offering my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said. "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 a unique figure 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 tech company, but it required someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the loopholes and the changes that needed to happen," she explained. She insisted she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after a lot of sleepless nights, investigation and "bugging people" who know about tech. How Does the Technology Work? Image Angel can be used by any online platform where people share images, for instance social connection apps, social media and online sites. When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them. This covert marker is embedded into the copy of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being edited and being re-captured with a secondary device. It means that if you find out your image has been circulated without your consent, providing the service you posted it on has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a data recovery specialist so legal steps can follow. To date, one service has adopted her tech and she's in talks with several more. An Established Method for a New Purpose "This technology already exists in the film industry, it is employed in live television so this is not an untested concept, 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 added. She expressed hope she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent 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 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that self blame can really be reinforced so it's really important that the support a victim receives is that they have committed no error," she emphasized. She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling technology-enabled abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to solve this problem, not just support services, it needs to be this integrated effort." Both women have experienced having their private photos distributed without their consent. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in her underwear were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her youth that would later shape her women's rights campaigning. "It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," said Jess. She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of this crime from the victims to the offenders. "There is no offence to willingly share an image to someone," stated Jess. "But it is a crime to distribute that non-consensually and I think that should always be where the blame is," she affirmed.