Janet Mbugua Condemns Victim Blaming In Russian Leaked Video Scandal
Image: Janet Mbugua hospitalizedRenowned media personality and activist Janet Mbugua has issued a powerful critique of the public’s response to a viral scandal involving a Russian man who recorded and leaked his escapades with several African women. In a detailed statement released via her social media accounts on Friday, February 20, 2026, Mbugua dismantled the systemic failures that allowed the incident to spiral into a campaign of online harassment against the women involved.
Mbugua was unequivocal in her stance: the primary responsibility lies solely with the man who recorded and distributed the content without consent. She expressed deep concern over the “real-time” unfolding of the scandal, where the public’s first instinct was to consume the content and then interrogate the victims.
“We opened, shared, and talked about them. Then we blamed the women,” she observed. “What was she doing? Why did she agree? And only after all that… we got angry. But by then, the harm had already traveled.”
The veteran journalist argued that post-incident outrage is a hollow gesture that fails to address the underlying problem. She challenged what she describes as a “sick system” that instinctively questions victims before questioning perpetrators—a system she claims protects power and status over vulnerable individuals. Citing various local and international cases of gender-based violence, Mbugua noted that even when justice is eventually served, it often arrives much too late to undo the immediate damage.
Calling for a total paradigm shift, Mbugua urged the public and authorities to stop treating justice as a “negotiated” outcome while the harm inflicted remains immediate and devastating. She warned that anyone who remains silent or participates in the cycle of shaming is an enabler of the very system tearing lives apart.
“If we don’t interrupt it, then honestly… we are part of what keeps it going,” she concluded, demanding louder and more consistent pressure on the institutions designed to protect people.
