Poverty, dowry and the ‘good match’: revisiting community perceptions and practices of child marriage in a rural setting in Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Despite widespread awareness of the harms of child marriage in Bangladesh, the practice persists due to deeply embedded social norms around gender roles, dowry, and family honor. The ideal of a “good match”—where the husband is older, more educated, and dominant—drives early marriage and reinforces female subservience. These norms are maintained […]
Predicting Primary and Secondary Abstinence Among Adolescent Boys and Girls in the Western Cape, South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms are critical predictors of adolescents’ intentions to abstain from sex, particularly among those who have not yet initiated sexual activity. The study demonstrates that social norms supporting abstinence influence youth intentions more effectively than risk perception or knowledge alone. This suggests that interventions aiming to delay sexual debut should […]
Predictors of intention to use modern contraceptives among female senior secondary school students in the Kpando Municipality, Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that even when social norms (such as parental or peer support) are weak or unsupportive, girls’ own sense of empowerment and perceived control plays a decisive role in shaping their reproductive intentions. Interventions should focus not only on shifting social norms but also on building young women’s self-efficacy […]
Processing gender: lived experiences of reproducing and transforming gender norms over the life course of young people in Northern Uganda.
Key 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 […]
Our mothers do not tell us: A qualitative study of adolescent girls’ perspectives on sexual and reproductive health in rural Nepal
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Deeply entrenched norms around gender, sexuality, and family honor significantly limit adolescent girls’ autonomy and access to care. Girls are expected to remain silent, obedient, and sexually inactive, and those who seek SRH services risk social judgment or violence. Interventions must address these collective norms—especially the silence around sexuality and stigma […]
Parent-Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Communication Is Very Limited and Associated with Adolescent Poor Behavioral Beliefs and Subjective Norms: Evidence from a Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-Aways: Adolescents’ poor communication with parents about sexual and reproductive health is strongly influenced by social norms and beliefs. Many adolescents believe that talking about sexual and reproductive health with parents is inappropriate, embarrassing, or could lead to negative consequences. These subjective norms—especially when reinforced by peer expectations—discourage open dialogue. Gender norms […]
Parents’ intention toward early marriage of their adolescent girls in eastern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study from a social norms perspective
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that strong social norms—specifically empirical expectations (beliefs about what others do) and normative expectations (beliefs about what others think one should do)—significantly influence parents’ intentions to marry off their adolescent daughters before age 18 in Eastern Ethiopia. The findings show that even when parents are aware of the […]
Perceived norms, personal agency, and postpartum family planning intentions among first-time mothers age 15–24 years in Kinshasa: A cross-sectional analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study underscores that perceived social expectations and norms—especially those from the broader community—are powerful influencers of PPFP behavior. When young mothers believe that their peers use contraception or that their community supports it, their intention to do so increases. Conversely, perceived disapproval suppresses these intentions. Effective PPFP programs must challenge […]
One Step Forwards half a Step Backwards: Changing Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence in Bangladesh.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around male dominance, female obedience, and marital permanence remain powerful drivers of IPV. Progress in women’s rights must be matched by efforts to transform these norms—especially among men and boys—if violence is to decline sustainably. Programming should engage whole communities, address backlash, and support women as they navigate shifting […]
Multilevel factors influencing contraceptive use and childbearing among adolescent girls in Bara district of Nepal: a qualitative study using the socioecological model
Objectives: This study aimed to identify and examine the multilevel factors influencing contraceptive use and childbearing decisions among married adolescent girls in Bara district, Nepal, using the socioecological model to understand how individual, relational, community, and structural influences interact. Methods: A qualitative study design was used, incorporating in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 60 participants—20 married adolescent […]