When Proof Is Missing, Control Disappears

Case Study Summary

Gemma* was in a relationship she believed was built on trust. During that relationship, she shared intimate images privately with her partner. This was not something she did casually or often. The images were shared in confidence, within a specific emotional context, and with a clear expectation that they would remain private.

As she later explained, this trust felt mutual at the time. “At first, it looked like we were built on trust.” There was no reason for her to believe those images would ever exist outside that relationship, let alone be used against her.

*Names and identifying details have been changed to protect anonymity.

When a breakup becomes leverage

When Gemma decided to end the relationship, the dynamic changed. Her former partner did not accept the breakup and began using the images as leverage, pressuring her to reconcile and making it clear that he still held power over something deeply personal.

“He started using the images to try to keep me in the relationship.”

When Gemma entered a new relationship, the behaviour escalated. Her ex-partner obtained her new partner’s contact details and sent the images directly to him. He used a fake email address to conceal his identity and included abusive language designed to shame and humiliate her.

He also made it clear that this was not a one-off. The threat extended into the future. “He just keeps trying to make sure that I don’t get into another relationship.”.

The impact goes beyond the images

Exposure Beyond Consent

For Gemma, the emotional impact was immediate. She described feeling disappointed and betrayed, but what stayed with her most was the loss of control. Something deeply personal had been taken out of her hands, and there was no clear way to stop it from happening again.

“I felt like I had no control over something that was happening to me.” The harm was not confined to a single incident. The images became a lingering threat, something that could reappear at any time, with any future partner.

Being exposed and not believed

The abuse also affected Gemma’s new relationship. When her partner received the images, he was distressed and withdrawn for weeks. Although Gemma explained that her ex-partner had shared the images without her consent, the anonymous delivery made it difficult for her to be fully believed.

“That was me in the image. It had my face.”

Why reporting didn’t feel possible

Despite the seriousness of what happened, Gemma did not report the abuse. This was not because she didn’t recognise it as wrong, but because she felt unable to prove who was responsible. Her ex-partner had used a fake email address. There was no obvious trail to follow.

“I felt really helpless. I had no idea where to start especially for the fact that I had no proof.”

Although she was certain the images had come from him, she had never shared them with anyone else. Certainty without evidence did not feel enough to involve the police or seek formal support.

Where evidence might change the balance

When Gemma reflected on protective tools like Image Angel, she did not frame them as guarantees of safety. Instead, she spoke about evidence and how having proof might have changed her options.

Being able to demonstrate when an image was accessed or shared could have reduced the anonymity her ex-partner relied on. It might have given her more confidence to seek help, report the abuse, or explain the situation to her partner without fear of being dismissed.

“At least I would have had some proof.”

What mattered was not the certainty of prevention but the possibility of being believed.

Trust, privacy, and past trauma

Gemma was also clear that trust cannot be assumed. Having experienced a serious breach of trust, she emphasised that any system designed to protect intimate images would need to be upfront and clear about privacy, security, and boundaries.

For people with past trauma, reassurance is not abstract. It is essential.

“It’s people’s images. It needs to be really secured.”

Transparency, clarity, and respect for user control were central to what she said people would need in order to feel safe using any protective technology.

Why stories like this matter

Gemma’s experience highlights a broader pattern in image-based abuse. Harm is often enabled not just by the act itself, but by the uncertainty that follows, the lack of evidence, the anonymity, and the resulting silence.

Tools that make misuse easier to evidence may not stop every instance of harm. But they can change the conditions in which abuse occurs, shifting some power back to the person in the image and reducing the isolation that so often follows.

This is not about surveillance or control. It is about dignity, accountability, and the right to feel safe in private digital spaces.

Behind every policy debate or technical solution are real people navigating the consequences of broken trust. Any meaningful response to image-based abuse has to start there.

Disclaimer

The examples, quotations, and case studies referenced in this document are drawn from voluntary potential user interviews conducted for product development, safety design, and contextual understanding.

These interviews are not academic research, nor are they designed or presented as formal studies, surveys, or statistical analysis. They do not aim to produce representative samples, generalisable findings, or population-level conclusions. The purpose of these interviews is to understand how image-based abuse and content misuse are experienced in practice, in order to inform the design, deployment, and evaluation of protective technology and operational safeguards.

Individual accounts are presented as contextual illustrations of real-world use cases, not as evidence of prevalence, causality, or typical outcomes across all users or platforms. Participation was voluntary and based on informed consent. Identifying details have been removed or altered where necessary to protect privacy, safety, and personal autonomy.

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