BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas represents far from your typical startup entrepreneur. Following multiple instances of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she was "angry enough to take action" and turned to technology for a solution.
"These were beautiful pictures, I'm not ashamed of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," explained Madelaine.
Just over a year since launching her company, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to track abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was recommended as best practice in an independent pornography review recently.
This marks quite a departure from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage.
Intimate image abuse, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a criminal offence with offenders facing up to two years in prison.
It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A report indicates that approximately 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by this form of abuse each year.
Madelaine, thirty-seven, said victims endured shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted.
"I demand dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's unacceptable, that's not my choice, that's not my mistake, that's an individual being an abuser."
Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she described.
"People think it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an financial advisor giving advice," she remarked.
She embraces being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I understand that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a tech company, but it required someone who has been through it to understand the flaws and the changes that needed to happen," she stated.
She maintained she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after a lot of sleepless nights, investigation and "bugging people" who understand tech.
Image Angel can be implemented on any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social networks and websites.
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 screenshots, being altered and being re-captured with a different camera.
It means that if you discover your image has been shared non-consensually, providing the service you used has the system integrated, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken.
Currently, one service has adopted her tech and she's in talks with several more.
"The system already exists in Hollywood, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not an untested concept, it's just a novel use and a new system," explained Madelaine.
"We have validated it, we're collaborating with a firm that has 30 years experience in tech development so we know that this is reliable 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 deterrent to potential intimate image abusers.
An advocate from a leading helpline said she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse caused for victims.
"When that guilt is compounded by a misinformed friend or professional who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's really important that the response a victim receives is that they have committed no error," she stated.
She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to bring about change, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling technology-enabled gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to solve this problem, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort."
TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when photographs of her in a state of undress were circulated within her local community. It was the first of several incidents Jess endured in her youth that would later shape her advocacy work.
"It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," said Jess.
She too is dedicated to eliminating the shame of this crime from the survivors to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to willingly share an image to someone," said Jess.
"But it is a crime to distribute that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she affirmed.
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