‘Execution for rape!’ - ... Jada Kingdom wants death penalty for rapists

Prompted by her own experience as a young girl, Jada Kingdom says Jamaica, and the world, by extension, needs to do more to protect children, and that rapists should endure capital punishment for their actions.

In her latest release Execution, Jada Kingdom sings in the chorus, "Execution for rape, prison ah guh too good fi dem, full time fi firm up we medz. Execution fi rape, put the rope roun' dem neck mek dem heng."

Her manager, Julian Jones-Griffith of Pop Style Music, said the song is about an "an important subject matter". He opined that matter so the message will endure, but notes that "at the end of the day, it is up to selectors and radio to support the message".

With the release of Execution, Jada Kingdom joins a list of other dancehall artistes like Busy Signal, Queen Ifrica and Beenie Man and Tanya Stephens, who have used their platforms, musically, to speak out about the topic of child abuse.

Jamaica's Children's Advocate, Diahann Gordon Harrison, is glad entertainers are raising their voices in condemnation of all forms of child abuse.

"For me, when you have more voices coming from persons at different levels of society, it can only be positive to raise awareness," Gordon Harrison told THE WEEKEND STAR.

She continued: "I may not have expressed my thoughts like that, but I can see where Jada Kingdom is coming from. It may uncomfortable for some persons to listen, but if you think of the level of harm they are exposed to when exploited by perverts, doing all sorts of things to them, you understand the reason for her passion and impatience, and I know it is a public sentiment."

But having listened to both the explicit and clean versions of Jada Kingdom's track, Gordon Harrison said the way it was packaged could take away from the message, as it also gives rise to the debate about capital punishment.

"It addresses a lot of issues, and in having a discussion or debate about capital punishment, yay or nay, I don't know if this is one we want to have with children when talking about a system of protecting their well-being.

"The question is still out if she is saying that the penalty should come back for rape, and is more suited to an adult audience speaking on the topic, where as we agree perpetrators should be held accountable. "