IMAGINE Endline Evaluation Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The IMAGINE program demonstrates that interventions targeting adolescent girls’ agency, gender dynamics, and economic empowerment can result in promising shifts in social norms related to family planning and gender roles. Notably, in Bangladesh, the intervention influenced norms around the timing of marriage and childbearing, and in Niger, it fostered greater contraceptive […]
“On the Wings of Wishes” (Icchedana), Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh Taking Flight Using A Social Behavioral Change Communication Program to Address Child Marriage Related Social Norms: A Longitudinal Panel Study.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that social norms change is possible through targeted communication efforts but remains uneven across groups. While personal beliefs (injunctive norms) can shift—particularly among fathers—community-level perceptions (descriptive norms) often persist. Interventions must explicitly target reference groups and address the perceived social consequences of norm-breaking to create an enabling environment […]
ENABLING GENDER NORM CHANGE THROUGH COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF A TRANS-MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT-EDUCATION INITIATIVE IN BANGLADESH.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This case study illustrates how an evidence-based, gender-transformative communication initiative can begin to shift entrenched social norms around child marriage in Bangladesh. Through entertainment-education and targeted community engagement, the project influenced personal and familial norms, even when broader community-level beliefs remained resistant. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning social norms […]
EXPLORING KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BELIEFS ABOUT CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH THROUGH A TRANSMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT-EDUCATION INITATIVE.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how transmedia Entertainment-Education (EE) can shift perceptions around child marriage by engaging viewers across multiple social-ecological levels. Exposure to the Icchedana programme was associated with greater disapproval of child marriage, particularly in interpersonal and societal domains. Despite education being a key determinant of child marriage, social norms persist […]
Sociocultural factors perpetuating the practices of early marriage and childbirth in Sylhet District, Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals that in Sylhet District, Bangladesh, deeply rooted social norms around fertility and gender roles strongly pressure newly married adolescents to have children immediately after marriage. The social expectation that childbearing affirms a woman’s value and ensures her acceptance into her husband’s family discourages contraceptive use and delays in […]
Social Determinants of Married Women’s Attitudinal Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the powerful role of patriarchal community norms in shaping women’s attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) in Bangladesh. Among all community-level factors, prevailing gender norms—specifically the level of acceptance of wife beating in the community—had the strongest influence on women’s own attitudes. The findings reveal that even women […]
Sexual and reproductive health experiences of adolescent girls and women in marginalized communities in Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Deeply entrenched social and gender norms—such as silence, shame, and taboo around menstruation, sexuality, and pregnancy—significantly constrain women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services in marginalised communities in Bangladesh. Norms discourage open communication, foster misconceptions, and restrict behaviors, particularly during menstruation and pregnancy. These norms […]
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 […]
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 […]
Men’s Perpetration of Partner Violence in Bangladesh: Community Gender Norms and Violence in Childhood
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that gender-equitable community norms among senior men are associated with lower levels of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by younger men in Bangladesh. However, these norms do not mitigate the increased risk of IPV linked to childhood exposure to violence. This suggests that while shifting norms is […]