Two female prison staff have marked International Women’s Day by sharing what it’s really like to be a woman working inside a male prison. Alexis Tonkin, 23, and governor, Laura Sapwell, 49, both work at HMP Bullingdon in Buckinghamshire.
Alexis has worked as a prison officer at Bullingdon - a Category B prison of up to 1,114 men aged 18 and over - for a year but has been a prison officer for five years. She said:: “I think a lot of people have the impression that being a prison officer is a man’s job, but it really isn’t.
"I’m 5ft 5 inches, about 10.5 stone and I have no problem walking around the landings and talking to the prisoners. Just because women tend to be smaller, it really does not make a difference to the day-to-day job.
