Lessons learned from a mixed-method pilot of a norms-shifting social media intervention to reduce teacher-perpetrated school-related gender-based violence in Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the challenges and potential of using online platforms to shift deeply embedded social norms around school-related gender-based violence among teachers in Uganda. The intervention found that directly confronting harmful norms—such as those supporting corporal punishment or victim-blaming in sexual harassment cases—often reinforced these norms. Instead, emphasizing positive role […]
The effects of the integration of an economic strengthening and HIV prevention education programme on the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and savings behaviours among adolescents: a full-factorial randomised controlled trial in South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores that social norms, particularly those related to gender dynamics, communication about sex, and financial decision-making, play an important but complex role in shaping adolescent sexual health outcomes. While the integrated intervention aimed to shift norms around gender and economic autonomy, the study found limited evidence of behavioral change. […]
Enabling Girls to Advance Gender Equity (ENGAGE) Report on the Midline Evaluation Results August 2019
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The ENGAGE program illustrates that social norms—particularly those around adolescent sexuality, contraception use, child marriage, and girls’ roles in decision-making—are deeply embedded in community beliefs and practices in Southern Malawi. While norms supporting child marriage are weakening, entrenched stigma remains around girls’ sexual activity and contraceptive use, especially among unmarried girls. […]
Impact of DREAMS interventions on attitudes towards gender norms among adolescent girls and young women: Findings from a prospective cohort in Kenya.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: While DREAMS aimed to shift gender norms as part of its comprehensive HIV prevention strategy, the study found limited evidence that DREAMS invitation impacted individual attitudes toward gender norms among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Kenya. Equitable attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health (SRH) decision-making were already high, limiting […]
“Household Debt and Relation to Intimate Partner Violence and Husbands’ Attitudes Toward Gender Norms: A Study Among Young Married Couples in Rural Maharashtra, India”
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around male dominance, control, and justification of violence play a crucial role in how economic stress like debt translates into IPV. Interventions targeting IPV need to include men and address both financial stress and the underlying gender beliefs that fuel violence. Economic programs focused only on women may miss […]
Preventing violence against refugee adolescent girls: findings from a cluster randomized controlled trial in Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The COMPASS intervention in Ethiopian refugee camps influenced social norms around gender, education, marriage, and social support, even though it did not significantly reduce violence within the 12-month evaluation period. Girls in the intervention reported more gender-equitable beliefs regarding education, marriage age, and childbearing, and had stronger social networks. These shifts […]
Effectiveness of curriculum-based sexual and reproductive health education on healthy sexual behaviors among year one students at Arba Minch University: A quasi-experimental study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Improvements in some individual attitudes about sexual and reproductive health were seen as contributors to normative change over time by challenging stigma and misinformation, even if collective norm shifts are not yet visible. The findings suggest that there is still a need for longer-term efforts and potentially more targeted strategies to […]
Preventing violence against women and girls in Bihar: challenges for implementation and evaluation
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore program demonstrated that interventions embedded within government platforms can begin to shift social norms around gender and violence, particularly when tailored to participants’ interests and accompanied by trusted community figures. Notably, efforts to build women’s agency, change male attitudes about masculinity, and equip community leaders […]
Does Mass-Media Public Communication Campaign Normalize Discussion, Attitude and Behavior about Condom Use among Married Men in India?
Key Social Norms Take-aways: While the study does not directly measure social norms, it explores how a mass-media campaign designed to shift norms—particularly around masculinity and condom-related stigma—was associated with changes in individual attitudes, discussion, and self-efficacy. The campaign aimed to normalize condom use by reframing it as responsible and masculine, and reducing embarrassment around […]
Evaluation of the Confiance Totale Campaign in Togo: Associations Between Campaign Exposure and Family Planning Outcomes of Interest
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Confiance Totale campaign influenced perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, couple communication, and self-efficacy, suggesting that ideational changes, particularly trust in providers and peer behaviors, play a crucial role in contraceptive uptake and reproductive autonomy. The campaign had stronger effects among women, who traditionally have lower access to health information and […]