Transitioning from Dominatrix to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Battle Against Revenge Porn

Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents not at all your typical tech founder. After multiple occurrences of clients distributing her intimate photographs, she was "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and turned to technology for answers.

"These were beautiful pictures, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were used against me by someone who I have never met," explained Madelaine.

Little over a year since launching her venture, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to track perpetrators, has won several awards and was cited as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review recently.

This marks quite a departure from her previous career in offering consensual sexual encounters, working with clients in the world of kink and bondage.

The Pervasive Problem

Intimate image abuse, commonly known as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison.

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

Madelaine, 37, said victims endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted.

"I demand dignity, I expect respect, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are up for debate," she added. "The fact that those images could be then shared in my community or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not an error on my part, that's an individual being an abuser."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she described.

"Some believe it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an financial advisor providing a service," she added.

She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "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 took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the loopholes and the modifications that needed to happen," she explained.

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

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social networks and websites.

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

This covert marker is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can survive screenshots, being edited and being photographed with a secondary device.

It ensures that if you discover your image has been shared non-consensually, providing the service you used 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 implemented her tech and she's in talks with many others.

Proven Technology, New Application

"This technology is already in use in the film industry, it already exists in live television so this is not brand new technology, it's just a novel use and a different framework," said Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're partnering with a company that has decades of expertise in tech development so we are confident that this is reliable and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she added.

She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential intimate image abusers.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An advocate from a support service commented she had seen directly the trauma and guilt intimate image abuse inflicted on victims.

"If that self-blame is reinforced by a misinformed friend or service who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized.

She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to create solutions, saying: "It is really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing tech facilitated 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."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in her underwear were shared around her local community. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later inform her advocacy work.

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

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the victims to the perpetrators. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she affirmed.