For years, thousands of intimate ima­ges of Trinidad and Tobago’s women have been circulated and exploited en masse within local pornography rings, saved by anonymous users in group chats or cloud platforms, and reshared among group members week by week.

The highly organised groups, the Express has previously reported, facilitate the non-­consensual trade of nude and explicit images of women, stolen from their devices or posted without their permission. They are often categorised by name and auctioned at a price while group members are encouraged to go in search of more explicit content.

Victims have in the past reported being extorted, harassed, stalked and threatened by ring members seeking to control them. Some told the Sunday Express they have suffered psychological and personal challenges as a result, facing reputational harm and disruptions to their personal and professional lives.