đź”— Share this article Transitioning from Dominatrix to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Fight Against Intimate Image Abuse Madelaine Thomas explains her first-hand ordeal of having her private photos shared without consent gives her a distinct perspective as a technology entrepreneur. Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas embodies far from your typical tech founder. Following multiple instances of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and looked to technology for answers. "Those were striking images, I'm not ashamed of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," explained Madelaine. Madelaine has received multiple accolades such as the Innovation in Tech Safety award at a major safety summit. Little over a year after launching her company, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to identify perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was recommended as best practice in an independent pornography review earlier this year. This marks quite a departure from her previous career in providing consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the realms of kink and bondage. A Widespread Issue Intimate image abuse, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a punishable crime with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison. It is far from an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study indicates that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by this form of abuse on an annual basis. Madelaine, 37, said victims lived with feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted. "I demand respect, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she added. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed 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 my mistake, that's an individual committing abuse." Madelaine aims her technology will deter potential intimate image abusers non-consensually. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for a decade and always found her work empowering and fulfilling. "It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a gift to someone of my own volition," she said. "Some believe it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an financial advisor providing a service," she remarked. She welcomes being a unique figure in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, it's remarkable to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a technology firm, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the flaws and the changes that were necessary," she explained. She maintained she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after a lot of late nights, research and "bugging people" 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 networks and online sites. When an image is viewed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them. This invisible watermark is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can withstand screenshots, being altered and being re-captured with a secondary device. It ensures that if you find out your image has been shared without your consent, as long as the service you posted it on has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so legal steps can follow. Currently, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with many others. An Established Method for a New Purpose "This technology is already in use in Hollywood, it is employed 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 developing technology so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she added. She said she believed the technology would also act as a preventive measure to potential perpetrators. Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame An expert from a support service commented she had seen directly the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse inflicted on victims. "When that guilt is compounded by a misinformed friend or service who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that self blame 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 noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to bring about change, adding: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling tech facilitated gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to solve this problem, not just support services, it needs to be this multi-layered response." Madelaine Thomas and TV presenter Jess Davies have experienced having their intimate images shared non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when images of her in a state of undress were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her youth 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 dedicated to removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the survivors to the perpetrators. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess. "But it is a crime to distribute that without consent and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she concluded.