# Gender Fairness in Audio Deepfake Detection: Performance and Disparity Analysis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09007 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.09007/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 19 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 9 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [wav2vec 2.0: A Framework for Self-Supervised Learning of Speech Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11477/) (2020)
- [Equality of Opportunity in Supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.02413/) (2016)
- [A Survey on Bias and Fairness in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.09635/) (2019)
- [WavLM: Large-Scale Self-Supervised Pre-Training for Full Stack Speech Processing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.13900/) (2021)
- [Closing the AI Accountability Gap: Defining an End-to-End Framework for Internal Algorithmic Auditing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.00973/) (2020)
- [Media Forensics and DeepFakes: an overview](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.06564/) (2020)
- [AASIST: Audio Anti-Spoofing using Integrated Spectro-Temporal Graph Attention Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.01200/) (2021)
- [ASVspoof 2019: Future Horizons in Spoofed and Fake Audio Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.05441/) (2019)
- [ASVspoof 2021: accelerating progress in spoofed and deepfake speech detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.00537/) (2021)
- [ASVspoof 5: Crowdsourced Speech Data, Deepfakes, and Adversarial Attacks at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.08739/) (2024)
- [Audio Deepfake Detection: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.14970/) (2023)
- [Improving Fairness in Deepfake Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.16635/) (2023)
- [An Examination of Fairness of AI Models for Deepfake Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.00558/) (2021)
- [GBDF: Gender Balanced DeepFake Dataset Towards Fair DeepFake Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.10246/) (2022)
- [Fairness Evaluation in Deepfake Detection Models using Metamorphic Testing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.06825/) (2022)
- [FairSSD: Understanding Bias in Synthetic Speech Detectors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.10989/) (2024)
- [Forensic deepfake audio detection using segmental speech features](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.13847/) (2025)
- [Real-time Detection of AI-Generated Speech for DeepFake Voice Conversion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.12734/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Towards Trustworthy Audio Deepfake Detection: A Systematic Framework for Diagnosing and Mitigating Gender Bias](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.09087/) (2026)
- [Phoneme-Level Deepfake Detection Across Emotional Conditions Using Self-Supervised Embeddings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.03079/) (2026)
- [What You Train Is What You Get: Gender Bias, Training Composition, and Post-Hoc Mitigation in Audio Deepfake Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.09891/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Audio deepfake detection aims to detect real human voices from those generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and has emerged as a significant problem in the field of voice biometrics systems. With the ever-improving quality of synthetic voice, the probability of such a voice being exploited for illicit practices like identity thest and impersonation increases. Although significant progress has been made in the field of Audio Deepfake Detection in recent times, the issue of gender bias remains underexplored and in its nascent stage In this paper, we have attempted a thorough analysis of gender dependent performance and fairness in audio deepfake detection models. We have used the ASVspoof 5 dataset and train a ResNet-18 classifier and evaluate detection performance across four different audio features, and compared the performance with baseline AASIST model. Beyond conventional metrics such as Equal Error Rate (EER %), we incorporated five established fairness metrics to quantify gender disparities in the model. Our results show that even when the overall EER difference between genders appears low, fairness-aware evaluation reveals disparities in error distribution that are obscured by aggregate performance measures. These findings demonstrate that reliance on standard metrics is unreliable, whereas fairness metrics provide critical insights into demographic-specific failure modes. This work highlights the importance of fairness-aware evaluation for developing a more equitable, robust, and trustworthy audio deepfake detection system.
