Lady Saw tells her rape story – DJ speaks out about terrifying ordeal

Ace female deejay Marion ‘Lady Saw’ Hall was raped as a little girl when living in the garrison but now several years later, she wants to tell her story.

In an emotional phone interview with the STAR earlier this week, Lady Saw told the STAR about her ordeal and the heartbreaking phone call that stirred up her old memories.

“I was here at home one day when a young girl called me, a teenager. She was crying; she told me she had been raped and I told her to go to the police but she couldn’t cause of the area she lived in. She was gonna kill herself. I told her not to ’cause she wouldn’t see God’s place if she did. It was so emotional for me and she asked me to do a song about rape for her,” Saw said.

Looking back on her experiences, today Saw can identify with the girl who had confided in her. According to Saw, she also did not file a police report at the time either, as it would not have made a difference.

“My first man, I didn’t give myself to – is someone I know, he seemed to be a nice person but ended up being like everyone else. Where I was living at the time … police report … please … I was a simple little girl from the country come to di ghetto. I never say it to my mother ’cause she was a peaceful woman. I was new to it (the ghetto) and had been through so much there,” she told The STAR.

Shock waves

After the incident, she said she walked from Kingston to St Mary to be home where she could find comfort.

Lady Saw began sharing her experience onstage last Sunday at the Follow Di Arrow show in Oracabessa, St Mary. The announcement which took place during her performance sent shock waves throughout the venue and the once excited patrons stood eerily silent.

She closed her performance with a few lines of the upcoming song of being “a little girl” who “got rape an’ cage dung inna de garrison”.

In a moving display, Saw declared in her performance “man juk me dung before me reach 16” and deejayed “my first boyfriend wasn’t my chosen boyfriend” before pausing, “it gets emotional”.

She continued, though, with, “I was abducted and taken to his ends/he was surprised to know I was a virgin/dat neva stop him from molest de ting.”

During THE STAR’s interview, Saw in commenting about the song said that “these are the things a lot of women go through, they don’t talk about. I wrote that song for me, her (little girl) and all the other women who have been through similar experiences”.

According to Saw, the young girl’s experience resonated in her and she recalled her own experience. She says that although people may see her success today she has been through ’nuff ting’. In the chorus of the song, she says “if you see me smiling today/don’t try to take that away”.

She said that it was only when she was much older that she told someone about the incident. However, she says things are different now and that sexual abuse should definitely be reported.

“Go to the police and deal with it. In my time, I couldn’t but its different now. Don’t feel ashamed as if you did something wrong, it corrupts your mind, your thoughts, you don’t want to trust men again. Keep praying and enjoy life. If you allow it, it will depress you while the man is out there merry,” Saw advised.

Made me cry

Police sources advised The STAR that there is no time limit on when rape can be reported, so even many years after the incident charges can be brought against the accused.

“These women need to speak out ’cause to think that a man can come out of a woman’s womb and treat women like an animal. I’m not getting depressed over dat ’cause I’m still alive,” Saw said.

After her performance at Oracabessa, Saw says that she got calls and several persons told her what a wonderful song it was.

“That song made me cry. Infertility, the song about my mother and this one, those are the three songs that make me cry when I perform them,” Saw said.

The song which is yet to be entitled is produced by Sly and Robbie and is to hit the airwaves soon. “I just want to tell dat girl that I did the song. It’s a story about me too, I like to write songs that when I perform it, I want people to feel it,” she said.

In the meanwhile Lady Saw is working on an autobiography which further details that and other ordeals, including what happened when she went home.

“When I pass, I want to leave a story behind, some history, not di other side about sex, sex, sex … Yes, sex is good (but) when both parties are into it. I might never have kids, so I want to leave something of me behind,” Lady Saw said.

Source: Jamaica-Star