SIOUX CITY, IA—Facing scrutiny for a double standard when it comes to gender, the Federal Witness Protection Program was under fire Monday for what detractors called a clear failure to create believable female identities. “Women make up 50% of the population and yet most of these witnesses are reduced to playing stereotypes like “housewife” or “nurse,’” said law enforcement critic Geanna Linx, telling reporters that women who were party to a crime and had been spirited away across the country were often given feather-light dossiers that included descriptions such as “hot but doesn’t know it,” or “a real ice queen.’” “There have been some minor improvements in recent years, with agents including jobs like architect or magazine editor, but they’re still very trite and underwritten. And if you’re a witness over 40, they tend to basically just ignore your testimony altogether. Really, we’re not going to see the types of changes we need until we have a lot more women marshals in WITSEC coming up with these identities.” Linx added that it was arguably even worse for nonwhite program members who often ended up being relegated to roles as a next door neighbor or work colleague of a white witness.