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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas is not at all your standard tech founder. After repeated occurrences of individuals distributing her intimate photographs, she was "angry enough to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for answers.

"These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the manner that they were weaponized by someone who I don't know," said Madelaine.

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

This marks quite a departure from her previous career in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the world of BDSM.

A Widespread Issue

The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a punishable crime with perpetrators risking two years in prison.

It is not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the sex industry. A study suggests that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by intimate image abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, explained victims endured feelings of humiliation. "In my view a lot of people will say, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted.

"I demand dignity, I expect respect, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love 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 being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

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 dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she said.

"People think it's strange but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an accountant giving advice," she added.

She embraces being a unique figure in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, it's remarkable to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it required someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the loopholes and the changes that needed to happen," she stated.

She insisted she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after many late nights, research and "bugging people" who know about tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social media and websites.

When an image is viewed by a viewer, it is automatically embedded with an undetectable digital marker which is unique to them.

This invisible watermark is embedded into the copy of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a secondary device.

It ensures that if you discover your image has been circulated non-consensually, as long as 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 action can be taken.

Currently, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with several more.

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"The system already exists in the film industry, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," said Madelaine.

"And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a firm that has 30 years experience in tech development so we are confident 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 intimate image abusers.

Changing the Narrative

An expert from a leading helpline said she had seen directly the trauma and guilt intimate image abuse inflicted on victims.

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

She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is vital to have this multi-layered approach towards addressing tech facilitated gender-based 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 only fifteen when images of her in her underwear were circulated within her town. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later inform her women's rights campaigning.

"It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of intimate image abuse from the survivors to the offenders. "There is no offence to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to distribute that non-consensually and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she concluded.