Is transactional sex exploitative? A social norms perspective, with implications for interventions with adolescent girls and young women in Tanzania
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Transactional sex is shaped by deeply rooted social and gender norms in Tanzanian communities. Core norms include male provision in relationships, reciprocal expectations of sex from girls, and peer-driven pressure to achieve a “modern lifestyle” through material possessions. Relationships are often not viewed as exploitative unless there is coercion, power imbalance, […]
Interpersonal Communication as an Agent of Normative Influence: A Mixed Method Study among the Urban Poor in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that interpersonal communication plays a critical role in how social norms influence contraceptive use among married women in urban poor areas of Uttar Pradesh, India. Using the theory of normative social behavior, it finds that descriptive norms (what people perceive others are doing) and injunctive norms (perceptions of […]
Intersecting inequalities, gender and adolescent health in Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that gender norms significantly influence adolescents’ health in Ethiopia, but these norms do not operate in isolation. Instead, they intersect with factors like age, disability, poverty, and rural location to compound disadvantage. For example, stigma around menstruation and contraception, particularly for girls and adolescents with disabilities, limits access […]
Influences on seeking a contraceptive method among adolescent women in three cities in Nigeria
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study reveals a disconnect between injunctive norms (what adolescents are expected to do) and descriptive norms (what they are actually doing). Social norms around age, marital status, and fertility strongly influence contraceptive decision-making. The research highlights that social networks—particularly peers and partners—play a crucial role in circumventing restrictive norms. Programs […]
Innovative methods to analyse the impact of gender norms on adolescent health using global health survey data.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study emphasizes that addressing adolescent health requires tackling not only individual attitudes but also the broader social norms reinforced by families, peers, schools, and communities. Proxy measures for gender norms—based on patterns of attitudes, behaviors, and their mismatches—offer a powerful tool to identify where social expectations create risks or opportunities […]
Inequitable Gender Norms From Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood in Uganda: Tool Validation and Differences Across Age Groups.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that inequitable gender norms are deeply internalized from early adolescence and are prevalent among youth in Uganda. Younger adolescents aged 10 to 14 showed significantly more support for inequitable norms than their older peers, indicating that gender socialization occurs early and rigidly. These norms, encompassing beliefs about male […]
Individual and community-level impact of infertility-related stigma in Malawi
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Infertility-related stigma in Malawi is deeply embedded in gendered social norms, shaping not only how infertility is understood but also how individuals are treated based on perceptions alone. Infertility, even if only suspected, disrupts normative pathways to adulthood, identity, and social status. Women are especially burdened by stigma, blamed for infertility […]
Impacts of Multisectoral Cash Plus Programs on Marriage and Fertility After 4 Years in Pastoralist Kenya: A Randomized Trial
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study underscores that addressing individual behaviors is not enough; shifting community norms around gender, sexuality, and the value of girls is essential. Interventions that combine community-level gender norm change with direct support for girls can reshape the social expectations that place them at risk. Successful programs must work across multiple […]
Impacts of a Cash Plus Intervention on Gender Attitudes Among Tanzanian Adolescents
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that gender-transformative social protection programs can positively influence adolescents’ gender attitudes, but such impacts are not uniformly experienced across genders. While the intervention fostered more equitable gender norms among adolescent boys—particularly regarding domestic chores, violence, and sexual relationships—girls showed no measurable improvement. This suggests that girls may face […]
I really wanted to abort’ Desire for abortion, failed abortion and forced motherhood in South-Western Nigeria.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study reveals how entrenched social norms around premarital sex, motherhood, and abortion in South-Western Nigeria severely constrain young women’s reproductive autonomy. Abortion stigma—framed by religious, legal, and moral discourses—forces women to weigh social death against health risks when confronting unintended pregnancies. The concept of “forced motherhood” emerges from a complex […]