Model Safety
Resources for Models
Know your rights. Protect your boundaries. Walk into every session with confidence and clarity.
Your safety is not someone else’s
responsibility to offer.
The modeling industry opens real creative opportunity. It also carries risks that are rarely discussed openly. Whether you are shooting with YIM or anyone else, these resources and tools belong in your hands before you ever step in front of a lens.
Your Intimate Memories was built by someone with over fifteen years of experience as a career security professional, the majority of it in leadership. Jeshua Mercado has led security teams across half a dozen organizations and hundreds of sites spanning commercial, residential, and government contracts, and spent years as an instructor educating and credentialing the next generation of security professionals. He currently serves as School Security Officer at Prince William County Public Schools, heading security operations at his assigned middle school. His responsibilities include crafting and implementing safety policies, conducting crisis training and drills, and serving on the school’s Threat Assessment Team as the security contributor, providing safety and security perspective to the administrative team. Above every credential and responsibility, his most important duty is the safety and wellbeing of the students in his care.
When you work with YIM, the person behind the camera understands what it means to be responsible for someone else’s safety.
Knowledge is your shield. Use it.
Preparation is
protection.
The work you do before the session is as important as what happens during it. Vet every photographer. Share your location. Bring someone with you.
Scrutinize the Portfolio
A professional portfolio tells you everything. Look for consistent quality, identifiable locations, and a clear body of work that spans time. Vague or sparse portfolios, images without context, or work that suddenly appears polished without a visible history are all worth questioning. Entering a session with a photographer is a significant act of trust. Approach the vetting process with the same seriousness that trust deserves.
Seek Out Model References
Start with the photographer’s social media. Models tagged in their work are references, and you do not need anyone’s permission to contact them. Reach out to as many as you need. Ask directly about their experience, how they felt during the session, and whether they felt safe and respected throughout. You are not intruding. You are doing exactly what any informed professional should do.
If no models are tagged or contact information is not available, ask the photographer directly: “Can you connect me with models you have worked with before?” A professional with nothing to hide will provide references without hesitation. How a photographer responds to that question tells you as much as the references themselves. A single honest conversation is worth more than a hundred polished images.
Every YIM Session Agreement includes a Reference Disclosure Election. A model may choose, in writing, to let YIM share her identity with a prospective model who asks for a reference, so that model can ask directly about the experience of working with the Photographer. This is entirely optional, decided by each model for herself, and can be withdrawn in writing at any time.
Share Your Location
Before every session, share your live location with a trusted person using your phone’s built-in tools.
- iPhone (Find My Phone): Open the Find My app → People tab → Share My Location → choose your contact and set the duration.
- iPhone (Google Maps): Open Google Maps → tap your profile photo → Location Sharing → New Share → select a duration → choose your contact.
- Android: Open Google Maps → tap your profile photo → Location Sharing → select contact and duration.
Tell that person the address of the session, the photographer’s name, and an expected end time. Ask them to check in if they don’t hear from you.
Normalize Chaperones
Bringing a trusted friend, fellow model, or family member to a session is normal, professional, and entirely your right. Any photographer who discourages a chaperone, frames it as distrust, or makes you feel uncomfortable for asking is giving you important information about how that session will go.
A chaperone is both a safety measure and your support in the room. The right person beside you can be the difference between a good session and a great one. Someone who knows you, believes in you, and keeps your energy up is not a distraction from the work. They are part of what makes it work.
The law is on
your side.
Virginia law independently backs every model’s rights in photographic sessions. Know what is on your side before you need it.
The Right to Stop: Consent Can Be Revoked at Any Time
Under Virginia law, consent to participate in a photographic session is not a one-time, irrevocable decision. You may withdraw consent at any point during any session, for any reason, without penalty and without explanation. You do not owe the photographer a reason. You do not owe them the remainder of the session. A signed model release or contract does not strip you of this right.
This applies at every tier, in every environment, regardless of how far the session has progressed. Stop means stop. Pause means pause. And the moment you invoke either, the session stops.
Virginia Code § 18.2-386.1 governs the photographing of unclothed persons in private venues. It requires affirmative consent before the session begins, and that consent is ongoing, not retrospective.
The Take It Down Act
The TAKE IT DOWN Act (Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing and Limiting Exploitation) is a federal law that requires platforms to remove intimate images, including AI-generated synthetic images, upon request by the depicted person.
What it covers: Non-consensual intimate images (NCII), including real photographs, videos, and AI-generated deepfakes that depict a real, identifiable person in a sexual manner without their consent.
What it does not cover: Images you have explicitly consented to have distributed. It also does not prevent images from being created in the first place; it is a removal mechanism, not a prevention mechanism. This is why the agreements and consent structures in place before a session are your first and most important protection.
Signed into federal law in May 2025 and currently in effect, the Act requires covered platforms to remove qualifying content within 48 hours of a verified removal request. Non-compliance by a platform can result in federal penalties.
If intimate images of you are posted or distributed without your consent, you have the right to submit a removal request to the hosting platform directly.
Sharing Your Images Without Consent Is a Criminal Act
Virginia Code § 18.2-386.2 makes it a criminal offense to maliciously disseminate or sell intimate images of another person without consent, where that person had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate is all that is required. No financial harm needs to have occurred. The unauthorized sharing itself is the crime.
A 2024 amendment extended coverage to deepfakes — images generated or altered to depict you without your consent carry the same criminal weight as a real photograph. A first offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Penalties increase with subsequent offenses.
This means any photographer, platform, or individual who distributes intimate images of you without authorization is not simply breaching a contract. They are committing a crime under Virginia law.
You Can Sue — Independently of Any Criminal Charges
Virginia Code § 8.01-40.4 provides a civil cause of action for the same conduct criminalized under § 18.2-386.2. If intimate images of you are shared or sold without your consent, you may sue and recover compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees and costs whether or not the offender was ever charged with or convicted of the criminal violation.
You do not need to wait for law enforcement to act. The civil remedy is yours to pursue on your own timeline, through your own attorney. Criminal and civil actions are independent of each other and can proceed simultaneously.
Your Name and Likeness Cannot Be Used Commercially Without Your Consent
Virginia Code § 8.01-40 prohibits the unauthorized commercial use of any person’s name or picture for advertising or trade purposes. Your likeness cannot legally be used to promote, sell, or advertise anything — including photography services — without your specific written consent.
Consent is specific, not transferable. Permission granted for one purpose does not extend to another. A release signed for editorial use does not cover commercial advertising. If your name or image appears in a context you did not explicitly authorize, you have a civil cause of action under this statute.
This is the legal foundation behind why any reputable photographer documents what your images may be used for in writing, before the session, and why vague or open-ended release language is always worth questioning before you sign.
What should and
should never happen.
A professional session has a clear, consistent feel. Know the difference between direction and violation.
No Physical Touch
A professional photographer directs with their voice and demonstrates with their own body, never by touching yours. They do not reposition your limbs, adjust your clothing by hand, or make physical contact to guide a pose. Ever. If a photographer touches you without explicit, prior consent to do so, that is a boundary violation. You are allowed to say so, and you are allowed to stop.
Disrespect Is a Disqualifying Behavior
If verbal direction is not producing the outcome a photographer is seeking, the answer is patience, clarity, and adjustment. Facilitating a productive session is the photographer’s responsibility, and maintaining professional decorum throughout that process is part of the job. A photographer’s character is not always apparent in initial conversations, which makes it important to recognize the signs once you are in the room. Regardless of how a collaboration began or who reached out first, there is no professional justification for talking down to a model, belittling her work or her choices, or raising a voice in her direction. These are not signs of high standards or a demanding creative process. They are disqualifying behaviors. If a photographer speaks to you this way during a session, you are not obligated to continue. Terminate the collaboration and leave the venue.
Silence Is Not Cowardice
If a situation turns hostile, do not engage. It is instinctual to defend yourself when you are being treated poorly, but a confrontation, whether verbal or physical, will not improve the situation and will very likely escalate it in the photographer’s favor. Consider the factors working against you.
- Numerical disadvantage. Most models attend shoots alone.
- Physical disadvantage. When the photographer is male, a 47% likelihood according to Data USA’s Photographer Profile, a size and strength gap is a real factor.
- Unfamiliar environment. Most venues are selected and paid for by the photographer. You are on their ground.
If the situation looks like it leans in the photographer’s favor, it very likely does. Silence is your friend. This does not make you timid or a coward. It makes you cautious, and cautious keeps you safe. Your only objective is to leave the space. If that means absorbing a few more insults on your way out, the task was still successful. Once you are out and safe, you can take action and share your experience with your community.
To exit cleanly:
- You are entitled to a break. Use it. Contact a trusted person, let them know the shoot did not go well, and send the venue’s address if you have not already done so.
- Thank the photographer for the opportunity and begin gathering your belongings. No explanation is required.
- Leave the venue.
When the Conversation Becomes Unprofessional
There is nothing wrong with friendly banter between artists. A comfortable, relaxed atmosphere is part of what makes a session work. But when the direction of the conversation begins to veer toward the personal and inappropriate, that is a red flag, and the difference is clear. Professional direction stays focused on the work: light, composition, posing, mood. When conversation shifts to personal flattery that feels designed to lower your guard, requests to go beyond the agreed scope, suggestions that “professional models don’t mind” certain things, or pressure framed as encouragement: those are warning signs. Trust that instinct. You are not required to continue a conversation that makes you uncomfortable, and you are never required to agree to anything beyond what was established before you arrived.
Culture Is Not an Excuse
Phrases like “in this industry, models are expected to…” or “this is just how professional shoots work” or appeals to cultural norms around nudity, body positivity, or artistic freedom used to pressure you past your stated limits are manipulation, regardless of how they are delivered or by whom. No industry norm overrides your consent. No cultural context changes what you agreed to. Your stated limits are your limits. Period.
Know What to Look For
Hidden cameras are small, and they are designed to be invisible. They may not be present, but they could be. Before disrobing in any private space, take two minutes to check.
- Look for small holes or gaps
In walls, smoke detectors, clocks, mirrors, air vents, and decorative objects facing the area where you will be. - Use your phone’s flashlight
Scan the room slowly. Camera lenses reflect light as a small, bright pinpoint. - Test two-way mirrors
Press your fingernail to the surface. A real mirror has a gap between your finger and its reflection. A two-way mirror does not. - Use your phone’s front-facing camera in the dark
Infrared night-vision cameras emit a faint glow that is visible through some phone cameras. - Trust what feels wrong
If something looks out of place, you do not need a reason to leave. You can leave at any time.
What happens after matters too.
The session ending does not end your rights. If something went wrong, or if something surfaces later, you have options and you have a record to build.
Write It Down While It’s Fresh
Security professionals are required to write an incident report immediately after an incident takes place. Human resources departments require employees to write a statement regarding a workplace violation. Both disciplines follow the same framework for a reason. Use it.
- Who? Everyone involved, including yourself. The photographer, anyone else present, and your own role in the sequence of events.
- What? What transpired? An insult, inappropriate language, unwanted physical contact? Describe it specifically.
- Where? The address of the venue, and the location within it. Did it occur in the bedroom of the venue? Did it escalate into the hallway? Did the offender make remarks in the parking lot? Location within the space matters.
- When? Dates and times. What happened first, what happened second, what happened third. Everything in chronological order.
- How? How did the incident occur? How did it escalate? How did you respond?
- Immediate Action Taken: What did you do after the offense? Where did you go? Who did you tell?
Include anything that felt wrong even if you are not sure it was. Screenshots of messages, booking confirmations, and any agreements you signed belong in the same folder. A detailed written account created close in time to the event carries real weight if you ever need it. Do not wait several days to document the incident. Memories can play games with the order of events the longer time passes.
If Your Images Are Used Without Consent
If intimate images of you are shared or published without your consent, you have the right to request removal under the TAKE IT DOWN Act (federal law, in effect since May 2025). Platforms are required to act within 48 hours of a verified request. Non-compliance is a federal matter.
Before you submit anything, document first. Screenshot the content with the URL visible. Note the date and time you found it. Save the direct link. You will need this for every submission and for any law enforcement report that follows.
What to write in your removal request:
- State clearly that the image was posted without your consent and that you are the person depicted.
- Include the direct URL to the content.
- Reference the TAKE IT DOWN Act by name and state that you are submitting a formal removal request under its provisions.
- State that you did not consent to this image being published on this platform and that you are requesting immediate removal.
- Include your name and contact email so the platform can confirm the request.
Example language you can copy and adapt:
I am submitting a formal removal request under the TAKE IT DOWN Act (enacted May 2025). The content at the URL below depicts me in an intimate manner and was posted without my knowledge or consent. I am the person depicted. I am requesting immediate removal of this content. I did not authorize its publication on this or any platform.
Content URL: [paste URL here]
My name: [your name]
Contact email: [your email]
Start here: StopNCII.org
StopNCII.org is a free tool backed by Meta and the Revenge Porn Helpline, designed for adults 18 and older. It works simultaneously with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, X, YouTube, and other partner platforms. It does not require you to upload your image to anyone. It generates a digital fingerprint of the file on your own device and distributes that fingerprint to partner platforms, which use it to detect and remove matching content. One submission reaches multiple platforms at once. Verify the site loads and is active on your end before relying on it, as platform tools can change.
For Google Search results and Google Photos:
Use the Google Legal Removal Troubleshooter. Select "Private Information" then "Non-consensual explicit imagery." This pathway is verified and active.
For any platform not covered above:
Go to that platform's Safety Center or Help Center and search "non-consensual intimate images." Every major platform covered by the TAKE IT DOWN Act is required to maintain a removal process. Going through the Help Center directly guarantees you reach the current, active form. Specific form URLs change without notice. The Help Center does not.
After submitting, record the date, the platform, and any confirmation number or reference ID you receive. If the content is not removed within 48 hours, follow up in writing and note the non-compliance in your documentation. That record matters if the matter escalates to federal enforcement.
Share Your Experience With Your Community
You are not obligated to stay quiet. If a photographer behaved unprofessionally or unsafely, other models deserve to know. Be factual, be specific, and keep your documentation close. A community that shares information protects itself.
- Your social media. Post your account publicly. Name the photographer if you have documentation to support it. Other models in your network need this information.
- Model Mayhem. Submit a review on the photographer's profile. Models check these before booking. A documented, honest review carries weight.
- Local photography and meetup groups. The DMV photography community is active and interconnected. Groups like Street Meet DC, Portrait Meet DC, DMV Photography Group, DC Film Collective, Photo Society MD/VA/DC, and equivalent local communities on Facebook, Meetup, and Instagram are places where photographers and models overlap. A report submitted to group moderators or posted in these spaces reaches the exact community most likely to encounter this photographer again.
- Modeling platforms and forums. Beyond Model Mayhem, any platform where the photographer has a presence is worth flagging. Most have a report or review mechanism. Use it.
Your account, posted honestly and backed by documentation, may be exactly what prevents another model from walking into the same situation.
When to Involve Authorities
If a crime occurred, including non-consensual photography, assault, or image-based abuse, report it. None of these reports require a lawyer or certainty about which law applies. Report what happened and let investigators determine the rest.
- Local law enforcement. File a police report. Bring your documentation: written account, screenshots, contracts, and communications. You do not need to be certain a crime occurred to file.
- FBI IC3 — ic3.gov. If the offense involved the internet or digital distribution, file a report with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Confirmed operational. Reports are reviewed by FBI analysts and routed to the appropriate body.
- Cyber Civil Rights Initiative — cybercivilrights.org. The dedicated organization for adult victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse. They provide direct support, legal referrals, and guidance through the reporting process.
Crisis Helpline: 844-878-2274 - RAINN — rainn.org. Covers sexual violence including image-based abuse. Available 24/7.
Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
Warning signs worth knowing.
These are not guarantees of bad intent. They are patterns. Any one of them alone may have an innocent explanation. Several of them together is a different conversation.
Recognizing a pattern before you commit is the most effective safety tool you have. The checklist below is not exhaustive. It reflects patterns that appear repeatedly when models describe bad experiences. Use it before you book, not after.
No Verifiable Work History
A portfolio that appeared recently, contains no tagged models, has no social media presence with consistent posting history, or that cannot be connected to a real, findable person is a problem. Polished images without a traceable origin are not proof of professionalism.
Refuses or Deflects When Asked for References
A working photographer with nothing to hide will provide references without hesitation. Deflection, excuses, or irritation at the question is information. Take it seriously.
Pushes for a Fast Decision
Urgency is a sales tactic. “I only have this date open” or “another model is interested” or “rates go up after today” applied to a boudoir session is not normal professional behavior. A photographer who pressures you to commit before you have had time to vet them is not operating in your interest.
Vague or Shifting Scope
If what the session involves is not clearly defined before you agree to it, that is intentional. A professional can tell you exactly what a session covers. Vague answers, scope that expands during conversation, or assurances that “we’ll figure it out on the day” are not signs of a flexible creative process. They are signs of a scope problem.
Unusually High Pay for Undefined Work
Legitimate paid collaboration sessions have defined scope, clear deliverables, and a rate that reflects the work. An offer that seems too high for what is being described, especially with vague scope, is worth scrutinizing. Compensation is leverage. Know what it is being offered in exchange for.
Discourages or Forbids a Chaperone
There is no legitimate reason for a professional photographer to object to a chaperone. None. If a photographer discourages one, frames it as a trust issue, or tells you it is not allowed, that objection tells you everything you need to know about how that session would go.
Not every camera is in
the right hands.
Everything covered up to this point has addressed legitimate photographers who engage in unethical behavior. It is worth stating clearly: the vast majority of photographers are genuinely working toward an artistic vision and are safe to work with. The warning signs in the preceding sections describe the exception, not the rule.
That said, there is a subset that is something different entirely. A camera does not make someone a photographer, and in modeling communities, the term “fauxtographer” — or “Guy With Camera” (GWC) — describes individuals who have no genuine artistic intent at all. Where an unethical photographer may produce real work but cross serious lines, a GWC uses photography purely as cover for access to models. The camera is a prop. The shoot is a pretext. Knowing the difference protects you before a booking is ever made.
What Is a GWC?
The term refers to individuals who use photography as cover for ulterior motives, often targeting aspiring or inexperienced models who may not yet know what professional behavior looks like. They are distinct from photographers who are new and still learning. The difference is not about skill level. It is about intent, ethics, and how they treat the people in front of their lens.
Insists on Working Alone — No Chaperones
A GWC will frequently insist on working with models privately, without a chaperone present, despite the fact that bringing one is standard industry practice. They may also disproportionately seek out female-only subjects and place unusual emphasis on their own “niceness” or how safe and comfortable they are to work with. A professional photographer does not need to convince you they are safe. Their portfolio, references, and conduct do that work.
Pushes Past the Agreed Scope During the Shoot
One of the most consistent patterns: the session was booked for something entirely standard — a headshot, a fashion editorial, a lifestyle shoot — and the photographer begins requesting compromising, nude, or highly suggestive poses that were never part of the original agreement. Scope creep during a session is not spontaneous creative direction. It is a deliberate escalation tactic. What was agreed upon before you arrived is what the session covers. That boundary does not shift because the photographer asks nicely or frames it as a professional opportunity.
No Verifiable Professional History
A GWC typically lacks any traceable, verifiable body of work. There are no published images in editorial contexts, no reviews from past clients, no dedicated studio space or professional website. Their entire online presence may consist of personal social media profiles with a handful of casual photos. The absence of a professional digital footprint is not a sign of being new. A new photographer who is serious about the craft builds one immediately. An absence, combined with other signs on this list, is a pattern worth taking seriously.
Flattery, Unrealistic Promises, and No Written Agreement
A GWC typically relies on personal flattery and makes large promises — immediate industry connections, high pay, rapid exposure — while deliberately avoiding formal, written contracts. Vague verbal assurances are not a substitute for a written agreement, and they offer you no legal protection if something goes wrong. A professional who is genuinely invested in a collaboration puts the terms in writing, every time, without being asked.
No Understanding of the Craft
Many GWCs rely entirely on smartphones or consumer-grade cameras and lean on aggressive beauty filters to obscure a complete lack of foundational photography knowledge. They demonstrate no working understanding of exposure, lighting, or composition. Equipment quality alone is not the issue — some of the most skilled photographers work with minimal gear. The issue is the combination of poor results, no conceptual framework, and no apparent interest in learning. A photographer who cannot explain what they are doing technically and shows no curiosity about improving is not building a craft. They are using a prop.
GWC vs. a legitimately
new photographer.
Being new to photography is not a red flag. The difference between a GWC and a photographer who is early in their career comes down to intent, behavior, and whether genuine creative growth is happening at all.
Why Are They Holding a Camera?
A new photographer wants to learn — exposure, composition, lighting, and visual storytelling. They are building a portfolio because they care about the images they make. They talk about the craft, ask questions, and demonstrate that the camera is a tool for making something.
A GWC treats the camera as a prop. It is the means of access, not the point. They show little to no genuine interest in the technical or artistic side of photography. What they care about is being alone with a model, not making a photograph worth looking at.
How Do They Operate on Set?
A new photographer stays within safe, professional boundaries, respects personal space, asks for consent before adjusting anything, and provides a clear written agreement. They may be nervous or uncertain. They may not know all the industry norms yet. But they operate with respect and do not make models feel uncomfortable.
A GWC disregards professional boundaries consistently. They often target inexperienced models specifically, using platforms like Craigslist or broad open-call posts where models may not yet know what to expect. They rely on their targets not knowing enough to recognize the violations.
Is the Work Getting Better?
A new photographer’s work shows visible progression over time. They accept and apply constructive feedback. Their portfolio evolves. They know what they want to improve and are actively working on it. Early images may be rough. The direction is always forward.
A GWC’s work is stagnant. The same quality, the same informal snapshots, no discernible growth. They rarely post images beyond low-effort casual captures of amateur subjects. There is no evidence of a creative practice developing because there is no creative practice. Photography is not the goal.
Do They Do the Work Before and After the Shoot?
A new photographer puts in the preparation: planning a concept, scouting or setting up lighting, reviewing shots during the session, and editing images thoughtfully afterward. They understand that the photograph happens before, during, and after the shutter is pressed.
A GWC wants to skip to shooting immediately. There is no concept, no lighting plan, no editing after the fact. The session itself is the entire objective, and the resulting images are an afterthought. Rushed, unedited captures with no apparent care for the final product are a reliable indicator that the session was never really about the photography.
Read it before you agree to it.
A model release is a legal document. What it says matters. What it does not say also matters. Take the time to read it in full before you sign anything.
What You Are Signing Away
A standard model release grants the photographer the right to use your images for specified purposes. Read the scope carefully. “Editorial use” and “commercial use” are different. “Personal portfolio” and “unlimited distribution” are different. The release should specify where images can be used, for how long, and whether you receive compensation for commercial use. If the language is broad, open-ended, or includes terms like “any and all purposes in perpetuity,” ask for it to be narrowed before you sign.
Consent Is Not Transferable by Contract
A signed model release does not transfer your consent to a third party. If a photographer sells, licenses, or transfers your images to someone else, that party is bound by the same scope the release originally defined. A release also cannot retroactively cover images taken outside the agreed scope. If a photographer photographed something you did not consent to, a release you signed for something else does not cover it. Consent is specific. A contract cannot make it retroactive or broader than what you agreed to.
Terms to Question Before Signing
Ask about any clause you do not understand before signing. Specific language worth questioning: “irrevocable license,” “sublicensable rights,” “any medium now known or hereafter devised,” “waiver of moral rights,” or any language that removes your ability to request image removal in the future. These are not automatically disqualifying, but they require a clear explanation of what they mean in practice before your signature goes on the document.
Resources that exist for exactly this.
These organizations exist because this happens. You do not need to have all the answers before reaching out. You just need to reach out.
Cyber Civil Rights Initiative
The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) is the primary organization for adult victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse. They provide crisis support, legal referrals, platform reporting guidance, and advocacy. Available to adults 18 and older. The NCMEC CyberTipline, by contrast, handles cases involving minors only and is not the appropriate resource for adult victims.
Crisis Helpline: 844-878-2274 · cybercivilrights.org
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
If the offense involved digital distribution, online coercion, or image-based abuse transmitted over the internet, file a report with the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov. Confirmed operational. Reports are reviewed by FBI analysts and routed to the appropriate investigative body. Filing a report does not commit you to prosecution. It creates a record, and records matter.
RAINN
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) operates a 24/7 national hotline covering sexual violence in all forms, including image-based abuse and coercion. All contact is confidential. Advocates can help you understand your options and connect you with local resources.
Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 · rainn.org
Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance
The Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance operates a 24/7 statewide hotline for survivors of sexual violence, including image-based abuse and coercion. All contact is confidential. Advocates can help you understand your options, connect you with local resources, and support you through the reporting process. Both numbers are confirmed active.
Call: 1-800-838-8238 · Text: 804-793-9999
File a Police Report
If a crime occurred during or as a result of a photography session, contact your local law enforcement and file a report. Bring your documentation: written account, screenshots, contracts, and any communications. You do not need to be certain a crime occurred to file. You need to describe what happened. Officers determine what laws apply. Your job is to tell the truth and let the process begin.
Your safety is
non-negotiable.
Every session at Your Intimate Memories is built around this principle. Read the Sessions and How It Works pages to understand exactly how every tier is structured and what protections are in place before anything begins.