Many women prisoners have past experiences of violent and abusive relationships with men that make them wary of contact with men in their living quarters. For such women, knowing that male officers are authorised to be involved in their daily routines causes anxiety. The counterargument is that it might be beneficial for such women to experience men ‘who are good role models, because a lot of these women have never met a decent man or a man who can keep his trousers zipped up’.