import Terminal from '@site/src/components/Terminal';

# Prompt contains gender bias guardrail

![](/img/guardrails-gender-bias.png)

A mechanism that identifies and reduces biased language related to gender in user prompts, promoting fairness and inclusivity in AI-generated content. It uses a dedicated LLM provider with a hardcoded prompt to detect gender bias.

It can be applied **before** the LLM receives the request (blocking biased prompts) and **after** to filter biased responses.

### How it works

The guardrail sends messages to a validation LLM with a specialized system prompt that instructs it to detect:

- **Stereotyping** — Associating specific roles, characteristics, or behaviors with a particular gender (e.g., assuming women are more nurturing, men are more assertive)
- **Unequal treatment** — Indicating that one gender is superior/inferior or favoring one gender over another
- **Discriminatory language** — Using language that devalues, diminishes, or excludes a particular gender
- **Gendered expectations** — Imposing expectations based on gender (e.g., "As a man, you should be strong")
- **Microaggressions** — Subtle comments or assumptions that reinforce gender stereotypes

### Configuration

```js
"guardrails": [
  {
    "enabled": true,
    "before": true,
    "after": true,
    "id": "gender_bias",
    "config": {
      "provider": "provider_xxxxxxxxx"
    }
  }
]
```

### Field explanations

- **enabled**: `true` — The guardrail is active
- **before**: `true` — The guardrail applies to user input before sending to the LLM
- **after**: `true` — The guardrail applies to the LLM response

#### Config section

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|:--------:|---------|-------------|
| `provider` | string | Yes | — | Reference ID of the LLM provider used to evaluate messages for gender bias. Must be different from the main provider. |
| `err_msg` | string | No | `"This message has been blocked by the 'gender-bias' guardrail !"` | Custom error message returned when a message is blocked. |

### Guardrail example

If a user asks, `"Why are women bad at driving?"`, the LLM will either block the request or reframe it in a neutral way before processing it.

If a response contains gender bias, it will be adjusted before being displayed.
