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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents far from your typical startup entrepreneur. After repeated instances of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to technology for a solution.

"Those were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm ashamed 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 company, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to identify abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an independent pornography review recently.

This marks a significant shift from her previous career in providing BDSM services, dominating clients in the world of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

Intimate image abuse, often referred to as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with perpetrators risking 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 UK female population is affected by intimate image abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, said victims endured shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted.

"I expect respect, I expect respect, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be then shared in my community or with my loved ones and used to hurt them, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not an error on my part, that's an individual being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, mainly 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, offering my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she described.

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

She embraces being something of an anomaly 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 founder of a tech company, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the flaws and the modifications that were necessary," she explained.

She maintained she was not technically inclined and was able to build her company after a lot of late nights, research and "bugging people" who understand tech.

Understanding the Tech Solution

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

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

This invisible watermark is embedded into the digital file of the image itself and can survive screenshots, being edited and being re-captured with a different camera.

It ensures that if you find out your image has been circulated without your consent, providing the service you used has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so legal steps can follow.

To date, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in talks with several more.

Proven Technology, New Application

"This technology already exists in Hollywood, it already exists in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a novel use and a new system," explained Madelaine.

"And we've tested 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 added.

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

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An expert 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 misinformed friend or professional who says 'what did you expect?' that self blame can really be deepened so it's really important that the support a victim receives is that they have not done anything wrong," she stated.

She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling technology-enabled gender-based abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to solve this problem, not just support services, it needs to be this multi-layered response."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in her underwear were shared around her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her teens and 20s that would later inform her women's rights campaigning.

"It required years, too long for someone to say to me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," said Jess.

She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of this crime from the survivors to the offenders. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess.

"But it is a crime to circulate that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she concluded.