Our Story
Azadi is a survivor-led organisation whose goal is to create spaces and programmes that enhance the agency of survivors of trafficking, to support recovery from trauma and to sustain their reintegration into society.
Credit: Rose Kibara
HerStory
You cannot talk about the history of Azadi without mentioning its founder, Sophie
Otiende who describes herself as a feminist, teacher and survivor advocate for
human trafficking survivors. After many years of working in protection services for
survivors of human trafficking that included her involvement in the rescue, shelter,
rehabilitation and reintegration of hundreds of survivors, Sophie founded Azadi
in 2020. While she recognized the continuous importance of protection work, she
also saw its limits. Survivors, out of necessity, were often moved quickly through
protection programmes and then reintegrated into the same communities that had
contributed to their trafficking in the first place. Many continued to face isolation,
vulnerability and the long-term consequences of trauma.
Survivors were often only seen as passive recipients of services and not as people
with expertise and knowledge in the field of trafficking, who have the ability to
take charge of their own progress and take leadership roles within the movement.
Working towards this end, Sophie believes that survivors need communities that
will be there long-term, where they are being understood and where survivors
can support each other to heal and grow. Having identified this gap, Sophie
together with a group of survivors decided to found Azadi as the first survivor-
led organisation in Kenya to bridge the gap between direct service provision and
long-term empowerment, growth and life in the community which Azadi sought to
become.
Credit: Nzilani Simu
The idea of Azadi came as a result of years of work in the protection space and also discussions with people who contributed to the questions and this idea over the years. Some of the people she accredits as co-founders include the late Zuhura Migot whose life was one of the reasons that made her question the current system of protection and how it was delivered. Yasmin Manji who listened, co-created and supported in drafting earlier versions of the vision. The fourteen founding members who insisted that there is no time to waste, the time for the vision was now. Antonia Musunga, who supported the organisation as a strategic advisor as the foundations of the organisation were created after registration. Agnes Akinyi and Lizzy Omamo who set up the financial and human resources and general operations and many others who shared their time and advice. This community and organisation has never been the labour of a single individual. The final iteration of the idea of Azadi was born in 2020 during the uncertainty and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic when many survivors were facing heightened vulnerability and shrinking access to support2. What began as an idea rooted in solidarity quickly grew into a collective vision: to create a space where survivors of human trafficking could come together, share their stories on their own terms and build lives defined by dignity, agency and community.
The 14
founding
members
​
Bigeni Mwangi
Caroline Adhiambo
Cynthia Wambui
Gladys Mwangi
Ivy Abuga
Jane Lenjo
Janet Wambui
Kibibi Mohammed
Mariam Yusuf
Milliam Kamau
Rahma Hassan
Shivan Alugnat
Sophia Gari
Zuhura Migot
Credit: Nzilani Simu
Azadi is an Urdu word that means freedom and in Swahili it means expectations. Azadi’s logo is based on a Ghanian symbol called Fawohodie which means independence, freedom, and emancipation.
We have tried to take beautiful symbolism from different cultures and merged it with our dream of empowering survivors, all of which is represented in the name and logo of the organisation.
