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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas is not at all your typical startup entrepreneur. Following repeated occurrences of clients leaking her intimate photographs, she felt "sufficiently outraged to take action" and turned to tech solutions for a solution.

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

Little over a year since founding her company, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to identify perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an independent pornography review recently.

This represents quite a departure from her background in offering consensual sexual encounters, working with clients in the realms of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

Intimate image abuse, 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 adult entertainment sector. A study indicates that around 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by this form of abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, said victims lived with feelings of humiliation. "In my view a lot of people will say, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted.

"I expect respect, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she added. "The fact that those images could be then shared 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 someone committing abuse."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been working as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she described.

"Some believe it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an accountant giving advice," she added.

She embraces being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I know that it's bizarre, it's remarkable to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a technology firm, but it took someone who has been through it to understand 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 sleepless nights, investigation and "bugging people" who know about tech.

Understanding the Tech Solution

Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social networks and online sites.

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

This covert marker is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can survive screenshots, being altered and being re-captured with a different camera.

It ensures that if you discover your image has been circulated non-consensually, providing the platform you used has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted 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

"This technology already exists in the film industry, it already exists in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a different framework," explained Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're partnering 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 test it at scale," she continued.

She said she hoped the technology would also act as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

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 uninformed acquaintance or service who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that self blame can really be deepened so it's really important that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she emphasized.

She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling technology-enabled 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 just 15 when photographs of her in her underwear were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her youth that would later inform her women's rights campaigning.

"It required years, an excessive amount of time for someone to say to me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess.

She too is dedicated to removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the survivors to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to consensually send an photo to someone," stated Jess.

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