South African women were imprisoned for fighting against the 1952 Anti-pass law campaigns.

Among those pictured here were Jay Singh (in white sari), wife of Debi Singh, and Fatima Seedat (in doorway), wife of lawyer/activist Dawood Seedat. This is a black-and-white photograph of them leaving the female prison as marked on the sign above the door.  

In 1952, the apartheid government announced the extension of pass laws to black women for the first time, sparking over a decade of resistance led by the African National Congress Women's League and Federation of South African Women. Seen as an attack on their freedom of movement and ability to live with their husbands, thousands of women marched in Pretoria in 1955-56 in protest. Despite eventual legal defeat when passes became mandatory in 1963, the women's campaign played a crucial role in the larger anti-apartheid struggle, gaining women an equal place in the movement after their contribution was initially underestimated by male ANC leaders. Their protests asserted the role of women in the liberation struggle, making it a victory for their status even as the laws were imposed.