Processing gender: lived experiences of reproducing and transforming gender norms over the life course of young people in Northern Uganda.
Outcomes: Gender‑Based Violence, Sexual and Reproductive Health
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways This study highlights that changing gender norms is not a straightforward process; it involves ongoing negotiation shaped by personal, social, and structural forces. Interventions that aim to shift harmful norms must engage families, peers, schools, and communities, while also empowering young people with knowledge, confidence, and supportive networks to challenge inequitable expectations. Programs must create safe spaces for reflection, dialogue, and gradual transformation of deeply embedded patriarchal norms.
Objectives This study aimed to understand how young people in post-conflict northern Uganda learn, embody, challenge, and transform gender norms as they grow from childhood to adulthood, and how these norms influence their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and broader life outcomes.
Methods Researchers conducted a 30-month ethnographic cohort study following 60 adolescents aged 10–19 through in-depth interviews conducted every six months. The study used participatory and narrative methods to document how young people negotiated gender norms across key domains, including chores, puberty, family planning, intimate relationships, child discipline, and alcohol use. The analysis applied feminist theory and an ecological perspective to create a conceptual framework showing the interplay of personal, social, and structural factors shaping gender norms.
Intervention Details This study was part of the Gender Roles, Equality and Transformations (GREAT) Project, a multi-year intervention promoting gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors among young people and their communities in northern Uganda. The intervention used life course-tailored approaches to challenge patriarchal norms and improve SRH outcomes.
Results The study found that young people’s experiences were shaped by both patriarchal and alternative gender norms, often enforced through family, community, religious, and educational institutions. While some participants conformed to traditional expectations to avoid stigma, sanctions, or violence, others subtly resisted or redefined norms through acts like seeking education, using contraception secretly, or negotiating household roles. The process of negotiating gender norms was influenced by individual agency, access to knowledge and resources, socialization, structural support, and the costs or consequences of challenging norms.
Conclusions Transforming gender norms requires multi-level approaches that address individual agency, social networks, and structural barriers simultaneously. Efforts to promote gender equity must recognize young people’s roles as active agents navigating complex social landscapes.
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