People stopped and stared in Camden High Street [Elizabeth Richardson]

MEN were left hand­cuffed to lampposts and railings in Camden Town on Saturday afternoon – leading to double takes and people asking for selfies.

The chained up chaps wore t-shirts with slogans such as “my girlfriend’s property” and “I bark for her”. It later turned out to be a stunt by a new dating app for “female-led” relationships”.

Chyrpe has already been downloaded more than a million times, suggesting the market for “femdom” may be bigger than many would guess.

The company said it chose Camden Town because of its anything goes reputation.

Anya Yuri, Chyrpe’s chief marketing officer at Chyrpe, said that its mission behind the new platform was to normalise these kind of relationships, and to show there is nothing unusual about having kinks.

“We wanted to anger men, especially the men that are so stuck in their beliefs of patriarchal values that they cannot fathom a woman being in charge,” Ms Yuri said. “There were of course men who were saying this was outrageous, and friends were starting to fight over it – but if this was the other way round [women were in handcuffs] would men still be mad or suddenly find this hot? What we did showed this kink was really fun and not shameful at all, normalising it.”

Chyrpe said it wanted normalise femdom feelings [Elizabeth Richardson]

Ms Yuri added: “Suddenly people that did not have a space to find their partners, because it was and still is a topic that is looked at with shame and embarrassment, can now be confident to find a partner and enjoy it.

“We have a community where men enjoy it when women make decisions and take action. Kinks are always there of course but it is an option and they don’t necessarily have to act with it.”

Femdom relationships are where a woman takes a dominant role over the male submissive.

The scene in Camden Town [Elizabeth Richardson]

Ms Yuri said: “With the rise of porn sites you’re much more exposed to this, femdom is a significantly huge part of that category but it’s relatively not talked about unless it is some­thing shameful. The community has faced a lot of scrutiny from people that just don’t understand it and that makes them feel more isolated. With a dating app like ours, you don’t have to be scared of humiliation or shame or being laughed at for liking this as everyone on the app is into this too.”

Chyrpe said it enhances its safety through manda­tory user verification that prevents scam, or catfished accounts.

Ms Yuri said: “The men’s opinions are very important to us because we want them to feel safe as well. They face the most scrutiny because as a man you’re expected to take the lead and be dominant all of the time. So we want the men to feel safe, respected, but we are open to all genders.”