SLAYKITTY: Model and activist also inspired by the Bianco/Manson revelations to publicly accuse a well-known steampunk figure following a stint as his intern (photo: The Scarlet Lens)
Ex-intern makes distressing video post
Willeford’s most recent intern — model, creator and educator Slaykitty — posted a distressing and powerful video on Facebook detailing her experience working with him and the subsequent revenge porn he distributed featuring her. In this video (16), she says:
“I know some of you may be wondering why I never mention my internship… I was promised an educational internship from him, separate from any kind of sexual relationship.
“I learned nothing of use while I was there which is why I don’t talk about my internship, but I am starting to feel like this was the plan all along. Having talked to others, this seems to be a habit, where he invites women he wants to sleep with to his house to be interns, and then teaches them nothing.
“He told me that I would have a room of my own… but it wasn’t ready so the entire month I was there I slept in his bed. There’s proof of all of this.
“While I was there, he emotionally manipulated and gaslit me. I brought up to him twice that I felt like I wasn’t learning anything… the response I got was him turning this around on me, saying ‘we both had a lot of “stuff” going on, now didn’t we…‘ which is something he’s said to other interns in the past.
“I found out that while we had a sexual relationship… he was in monogamous relationships that he pushed on two other women, and then was sleeping with me for some kind of power play or control. He repeatedly lied to me.
“He sent pornographic images of me to at least one other person who sent that photo to me. It’s not just a naked photo – it’s a sexual act… I told him to never do that. [………………] I have the photo, which was taken with his phone.
“He once bragged to me about sleeping with a 16-year-old because it’s legal in the UK.”
THOMAS WILLEFORD: US steampunk celeb and Steampunk’d TV personality (photo: Slaykitty)
When Thomas Willeford was publicly outed in early February 2021, the steampunk community responded promptly.
He was dropped from March’s steampunk festival Wild Wild West Steampunk Online
where he was due to appear as a speaker and as a workshop presenter.
The move was announced on WWWS’s public Facebook page on February 11 as being “in light of recent and ongoing events”.
Also on February 11, steampunk author DieselJester posted on Facebook that he was pulling one of his books from sale, pending a reprint to remove Willeford from the book’s cover (17).
Several performers including musician Unwoman announced that they would not perform at any future event he was involved in (18).
But people already knew — as comments on Facebook, Instagram and OwleyeView indicated. Reading the reports and experiences people shared was chilling; there had always been whispers, but they hadn’t reached me.
I have prior experience of outing abusers and an enormous support network. What if I had been another 16-year-old girl with no such experience and no ‘personal army’?
Whispers are no longer enough.
Lockdown buys time to build barriers
The pandemic isn’t over. We still have time. Lockdown has put a barrier between abusers and many of their potential targets. It has given us a chance to reach people — to add a barrier of our own before more become victims.
For people who have already been victims, lockdown can provide time in which to bolster strength, seek mental health resources and find a place in a community, creating a support network.
People need to feel safe enough to name names publicly, without fear that their perceived ‘inferior’ status will see them ostracised because the community has prioritised the abuser’s connections or fame over their safety and that of other potential victims.
It takes immense strength to out somebody, and it is rarely just one victim. When one person speaks the truth, others tend to come forward too, and they need to see action being taken.
People need to see that their words mean something. When a new name is brought forward, a wound opens — and before it is stitched back together, the dirt in it needs to be cleaned out.
Abusers in our midst, whether within kink or mere appropriators of kink terminology and imagery, must see consequences and be held accountable publicly.
I have confidence that just like the porn industry’s swift cancelling of James Deen, we too can show a gold standard example to follow: missing stairs cordoned off, with glowing neon warning signs for the public as well as insiders.
And then? Support and rebuild. We’re the kink community; we know all about aftercare.
ARTICLE TEXT, CONTRIBUTOR AND RESOURCE LINKS
TEXT LINKS – IN ARTICLE ORDER
(1) Sarah Everard death
(2) Missing stairs
(3) 50 Shades defence
(4) Domestic Abuse Bill 2020
(5) Refuge charity
(6) Stoya and James Deen: Buzzfeed
(7) Stoya and James Deen: Guardian
(8) Surviving R Kelly: Netflix (GB)
(9) R. Kelly: Dream Hampton interview
(10) Esme Bianco accuses Manson
(11) Faith Roswell original FB video post
(12) Faith Roswell second FB video post
(13) Amy Wilder’s FB post on OwlEyeView
(14) Sarah Hunter FB post on OwlEyeView
(15) Faith Roswell FB post/OwlEyeView
(16) Slaykitty FB video post
(17) DieselJester FB post + WWWC post
(18) Unwoman tweet
CONTRIBUTOR A-Z – TEXT
Evelyn Faye Instagram
Faith Roswell (author) Instagram
Little Sebastien
Sarah Hunter Instagram
Slaykitty Instagram
CONTRIBUTOR A-Z – PHOTOGRAPHY
Jim Jochetz Instagram
Josefine Jönsson
Lorne Marcum Instagram
Patrick Ceuppens/KinkyStyle
Rick Jones
The Scarlet Lens Instagram
HELP RESOURCES ONLINE
RAINN: Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (US)
Refuge: Domestic violence charity (UK)
Cactus Theory: Facebook video talk for people who may recognise themselves or their situations in the above article
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: FAITH ROSWELL
AUTHOR FAITH ROSWELL inhabits her current warrior woman persona, left (photo: Jonn Jaxxon); and (right) in earlier Roswell Ivory latex modelling days (photo: Josefine Jonsson)
Faith Roswell’s involvement with the alt/fetish modelling scene began in 2006 while she was a BA Honours student in East Anglia.
Under the model name Roswell Ivory, she was soon appearing at prestigious London events such as Torture Garden, Club AntiChrist and Barbican Xpo.
Over the next dozen years, she built a global following for her latex modelling that saw her shortlisted for international titles including Miss Fetish Europe (2014) and Fetish Model of the Year (2015).
It was during those fetish model years that she had her first encounter with one of modelling’s darker aspects, when she was assaulted by a predatory London photographer who, she discovered, was using his status to abuse women with apparent impunity.
In 2011 she outed this man in a piece of fearless whistleblowing that was picked up by mainstream media including The Times, Sky News and Glamour magazine. He was eventually jailed for seven years for sexually assaulting two women at his studio.
A few years later Faith used her blog again to out another man who was sending dick pics, revenge porn and explicit messages to models and other young women. In 2018 she published all the online evidence she had collected “so people could get a clearer idea of the extent of his activities”.
Now persuaded that this kind of abuse was far more widespread than people realised, Faith resolved to take action to help younger, less experienced and/or more vulnerable women to avoid similar experiences.
In 2017 she retired from latex fashion, but remains a friend to the kink community, committed to promoting women’s safety and empowerment. Her recent work in this area has included self-defence videos that have gone viral on TikTok, gaining her a new and passionate female following.
In 2019 she dropped her Roswell Ivory latex modelling name, preferring to be known henceforth as Faith Roswell.
“I’m proud of everything I achieved as a latex model,” she says, “and that work is still there for all to see. But I wanted to use my own name for my post-latex work so that people discovering me now can see where I’m going and who I am. Then if they also want to check out the back catalogue, they can!”
The name change completed her transition from latex to leather, cage fighting and solo travel, and the expansion of her brand into a ‘real life warrior woman’.
The transition period also saw her revisiting her long established interest in steampunk culture. She is currently writing a steampunk book series and expects to be talking to prospective publishers soon. @faithroswellofficial
Tags: Abuse, Community, Legal, Models, Personalities
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