Changes in Family-Level Attitudes and Norms and Association with Secondary School Completion and Child Marriage Among Adolescent Girls: Results from an Exploratory Study Nested Within a Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Indirect norms—like expectations to protect family honor by limiting girls’ freedom—powerfully shape girls’ futures. Effective interventions must target not just households but also the broader social networks that uphold these practices. Objectives: This study evaluated the impact of the Samata intervention, a three-year multilayered program in northern Karnataka, India, designed to […]
Boys’ perspectives on girls’ marriage and school dropout: a qualitative study revisiting a structural intervention in Southern India
Key Social Norms Take-Aways: Boys were influenced by norms portraying them as both threats to and protectors of girls’ reputations. While some adopted more equitable attitudes, their behaviors remained shaped by dominant masculinity and family honor norms. Interventions must go beyond individual change to engage peer networks and broader community structures in shifting power and […]
“I got courage from knowing that even a daughter-in-law can earn her living”: Mixed methods evaluation of a family-centred intervention to prevent violence against women and girls in Nepal.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study underscores that transforming gender norms within families—by working with both women and men, as well as older and younger generations—can create meaningful change, reducing violence and enhancing women’s empowerment. Objectives: This study evaluates a family-centered intervention in Nepal designed to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG) by addressing […]
Effectiveness of a multilevel intervention to reduce violence and increase condom use in intimate partnerships among female sex workers: cluster randomised controlled trial in Karnataka, India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Samvedana Plus reduced the acceptance of intimate partner violence, increased awareness of self-protection strategies, and fostered solidarity among sex workers. These findings highlight the importance of addressing deeply embedded norms that normalize violence in intimate relationships but also emphasize that changing norms may require broader structural and community-level engagement beyond […]
Patriarchy and gender-inequitable attitudes as drivers of intimate partner violence against women in the central region of Ghana.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study shows that IPV in this context is not just individual behavior but part of a broader social system supported by patriarchal norms, rigid gender hierarchies, and notions of male authority. Successful prevention efforts must directly target these social norms, emphasizing community-wide change, the transformation of masculine ideals, and the […]
COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT FOR HEALTH (CSH) PROGRAMME SAFE LOVE OUTCOME EVALUATION REPORT
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Safe Love campaign provides strong evidence that mass media behavior change communication (BCC) can influence social norms related to HIV prevention, particularly around condom use, HIV testing, and perceptions of sexual behavior. Notably, the campaign shifted perceptions about community approval of condom use with casual partners and the belief that […]
The Saleema initiative in Sudan to abandon female genital mutilation: Outcomes and dose response effects
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Saleema Initiative in Sudan demonstrates the power of branding and social marketing to shift entrenched social norms supporting female genital mutilation. By promoting a new social identity around uncut girls and fostering public discourse, Saleema reduced the perception that cutting is a common or socially accepted practice. The initiative’s success […]
Application of Community Dialogue Approach to Prevent Adolescent Pregnancy, Early Marriage and School Dropout in Zambia: A Case Study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights the potential of community dialogue approaches to shift entrenched social norms around adolescent pregnancy, early marriage, and school dropout in Zambia. Dialogues facilitated critical reflection among parents, reduced cultural taboos around discussing sexual and reproductive health, and fostered more open parent-child communication. Despite cultural resistance to topics like […]
Congregation leader and member discussions in a church-based family strengthening, mental health promotion and HIV prevention trial: Intervention
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates how faith-based interventions influence social norms in congregational settings through increasing discussions around stigmatized or sensitive topics such as sexual health and condom use. The intervention helped normalize these conversations among both leaders and members, revealing that religious settings, when engaged thoughtfully, can become important spaces for addressing […]
Evaluation of the Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers Initiative on Physical Child Punishment and Intimate Partner Violence in Northern Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The REAL Fathers Initiative demonstrates that targeting social norms around masculinity, fatherhood, and discipline through mentoring can significantly reduce intimate partner violence and physical child punishment. The intervention worked by addressing norms that justify violence in parenting and relationships, encouraging reflection on gender roles and expanding the perceived responsibilities of fathers. […]