Kuchu Times Media Group has today 28th March 2019 launched the fourth edition of Bombastic Magazine. This particular edition which focuses on mental health and intimate partner violence within the sex worker and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) communities was rolled out with mass distribution across the country by our volunteers.
The Editor in Chief of Bombastic Magazine Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera shared her delight at the realization of a dream that has carried on strong for four years. “It is very thrilling to finally put out the fourth edition of our annual publication. It has so far been the hardest edition to put together but the topic of choice couldn’t be more timely! We cannot win any struggle if we are not healthy at heart, mind and soul. I hope mental health and intimate partner violence will now be talked about more openly both within our community and country at large,” she said of the newly launched publication.
To download a copy of the magazine, please click https://www.kuchutimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Bombastic-4-E-Magazine.pdf
Below is a press statement shared upon the launch of the fourth edition of the annual Bombastic Magazine
KUCHU TIMES MEDIA GROUP (KTMG) P.O.BOX 213, Ntinda, Kampala, Uganda:
Email: [email protected]
TELEPHONE: +256 (0) 778 830 168
TWITTER/FACEBOOK: KuchuTimes
WEB: https://www.kuchutimes.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
LAUNCH OF 4TH EDITION OF BOMBASTIC MAGAZINE
March 28, 2019
It is with great pride and even greater pleasure that we release/launch the long awaited fourth edition of Bombastic Magazine. While we have been off schedule due to a number of hiccups, we thank you all for your patience and continued support in keeping this project alive.
This particular edition is very special because it addresses MENTAL ILLNESS AND WELLNESS as well as INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE within the LGBTQ and sex worker populations- issues that greatly affect us a community yet there’s still a lot of shame, stigma and discrimination associated with them.
It is a ‘public secret’ that many people within our community across East Africa continue to be victims of IPV and different forms of mental illness but choose to silently bear with the situations they seem to be caught in. Our main aim with this edition was to bring this issue to light and have it publicly addressed.
A number of LGBTQ individuals and sex workers have suffered violence and discrimination at the hands of different persons and groups including parents, friends, clients and state agents. Unfortunately, most of these cases remain undocumented and research done by LGBTQ CSOs Sexual Minorities Uganda and Ice Breakers in 2017 indicated a link between homophobia, violence and growing rates of mental illness within the Uganda LGBTQ community.
Therefore, with this edition we hope to start conversations within the community as well as service provider communities on how best to break the shame that is so often associated with mental illness and IPV. We believe that the shared stories of LGBTQ Ugandans (carried herein) who have suffered Intimate Partner Violence and their determination to survive will go a long way in providing an outlet of healing for not just themselves but the readers as well. We also hope that this edition will get each one of us thinking about what our role is in perpetrating or averting IPV and stigma associated with mental illness.
It is time to interrogate the influence of culture and religion towards mental illness within the LGBTQ community and share educative information on different forms of mental illness and intimate partner violence. We consequently call on all concerned parties i.e. medical personnel, policy makers and influencers, Police, allies, all concerned citizens and most importantly the state, to take it upon themselves to bring to book all IPV perpetrators and together we can make it our life’s mission to break the stigma associated with mental illness- the victims should not be ashamed, they need
our help and support to victoriously get through to the other end.
We would like to thank all volunteers for their efforts in distributing the magazine around the country and wish them safety. We also extend our sincere gratitude to all who have supported the magazine- your generosity and willingness to share your stories is the reason this magazine gets published
every year.
To our readership, we pray you enjoy this edition of the magazine, and hope that it strikes a chord deep within you, and brings you to the realization that there is no shame in being a victim! Kindly note that the magazine IS NOT FOR SALE and can be got through our many volunteers or by contacting us directly. We also have an online copy available on https://www.kuchutimes.com.
