Yes, let’s document and shame spouse bashers

Njoki Ndung’u

The declared intention by the Government, in particular the Ministry of Gender and Social Services, to set up a database of perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is good news. It is a milestone in the campaign against a pervasive crime that is often under reported and unpunished. That such a databank is long overdue is not in dispute. Yet the announcement in itself has "scaremongering" potential that could sufficiently act as a genuine deterrent, especially among those wary of the underlying name-and-shame objective.