Renowned media personality and advocate Janet Mbugua has issued a harrowing call to action following a CNN undercover investigation that exposed a global network of “abuse academies.” These digital spaces, described as “rape academies,” involve men—including husbands and partners—who gather on encrypted group chats and message boards to celebrate and coach each other on the sexual assault and drugging of their partners.
Speaking on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Mbugua expressed her profound shock at the scale of the depravity, noting that these platforms receive tens of millions of visits every month.
The Scale of the Betrayal
Mbugua highlighted the staggering data revealed by the investigation, which points to a massive, hidden crisis.
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The Numbers: The investigation documented 62 million visits in a single month, a figure that surged to over 80 million in March.
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The Culprits: Unlike anonymous predators, these spaces are reportedly populated by husbands, boyfriends, and long-term partners.
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The Harm: Members use these boards to share recordings of their partners and “coach” one another on how to normalize and execute harm within the privacy of their homes.
“These are husbands, partners, boyfriends… coaching each other, sharing, normalizing harm,” Mbugua explained. “Women are coming forward saying the people who were meant to love them, protect them, were the ones filming them, sharing them. Sit with that.”
A Disconnect in Global Reaction
Mbugua questioned why such a massive violation of human rights is not receiving the global outrage it deserves. She criticized the tendency to treat these reports as “background noise” rather than an urgent international emergency.
“That disconnect is hard to even process,” she remarked. “How is the world still moving like this is background noise???”
Safety Over “Strength”
In her powerful address, Mbugua challenged the narrative often pushed on survivors of gender-based violence. She insisted that the burden should not be on women to be “resilient” or “strong,” but on society and authorities to ensure their fundamental safety.
“This video is only two minutes. It cannot hold all of this,” she added. “We are not asking to be strong. We are asking to be safe.”
The Danger of Looking Away
Concluding her message, the media personality urged her audience and the wider public to confront the uncomfortable reality of these networks. She warned that silence and indifference are the primary drivers that allow these “academies” to operate so openly and effectively.
“The conversation may be uncomfortable, but it is necessary. Because looking away is exactly how this continues,” she said. Mbugua’s statement joins a growing chorus of international voices demanding stricter regulation of online message boards and more robust legal protections for victims of intimate partner betrayal.































