Even the people with leprosy that were banished to the Island resisted the isolation and inhumane treatment they received. In 1892 men with leprosy drafted a petition to the authorities that challenged the 1891 Leprosy Repression Act, and the isolation of people with leprosy on Robben Island. They demanded an improvement in the conditions under which they were living. In 1893, presumably for the same reasons, women with leprosy went on strike. They refused to clean their wards, send their washing to the leprosarium laundry or assist with any other kind of sanitary work. Others wrote to local newspapers complaining about the quality of food and water.
