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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas embodies far from your typical tech founder. Following multiple instances of clients leaking her private explicit images, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to technology for a solution.

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

Just over a year after founding her company, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to track perpetrators, has won several awards and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study recently.

This represents a significant shift from her background in providing BDSM services, working with clients in the world of kink and bondage.

A Widespread Issue

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

It is far from an issue uniquely experienced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study indicates that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by this form of abuse each year.

Madelaine, thirty-seven, said survivors endured shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said.

"I expect dignity, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact 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 someone being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she described.

"People think it's unusual but I view it similarly to a nutritionist or an financial advisor giving advice," she added.

She embraces being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I understand that it's bizarre, 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 experienced it firsthand to know the loopholes and the modifications that needed to happen," she stated.

She maintained she was not in the least bit techy and was able to build her company after a lot of late 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 social connection apps, social media and online sites.

When an image is accessed by a user, it is seamlessly tagged with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer.

This covert marker is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a different camera.

It ensures that if you find out your image has been circulated without your consent, as long as the platform you used has the system integrated, the sharer's information will be encoded in the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken.

To date, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with many others.

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"The system already exists in Hollywood, it is employed in live television so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're partnering with a company that has 30 years experience in tech development so we know that this is solid and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she added.

She said she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential perpetrators.

Changing the Narrative

An advocate from a leading helpline said she had seen directly the trauma and guilt this abuse inflicted on victims.

"When that guilt is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or professional who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she stated.

She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling technology-enabled abuse, because no one tool 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 images of her in her underwear were circulated within her local community. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her teens and 20s that would later shape her advocacy work.

"It took so long, an excessive amount of time for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the victims to the offenders. "There is no offence to willingly share an photo to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to distribute that without consent and I think that should invariably be where the responsibility is," she concluded.