Prevention of violence against women and girls: A cost-effectiveness study across 6 low- and middle-income countries
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that community-based interventions designed to change harmful gender norms and social norms around violence are among the most cost-effective strategies for preventing violence against women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. The findings highlight that investing in proven social norms interventions can improve population health, although additional […]
Uneven progress: trends and social inequalities in women’s empowerment domains in Ghana from 2003-2022
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Ghana has made substantial progress in women’s rejection of norms that justify intimate partner violence, suggesting meaningful normative change, but this progress has not translated evenly into other dimensions of women’s empowerment. The discussion emphasizes that restrictive gender norms and household power relations continue to constrain decision-making, particularly among disadvantaged groups. […]
Teenage Pregnancy and Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Marriage and Pregnancy: Primary Data Analysis in Akatsi North, Ghana.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Peer influence and gender norms are important social drivers of adolescents’ attitudes toward marriage and pregnancy. Peer pressure emerged as the strongest influence on preferences for earlier marriage and childbearing, while more gender-equitable attitudes—particularly valuing university education equally for girls and boys—were associated with delaying marriage. The discussion emphasizes that social […]
Factors Influencing Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Women: A Multilevel Analysis Across 20 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Acceptance of intimate partner violence reflects patriarchal gender norms that can normalize violence against women. Women surveyed between 2019 and 2022 were substantially less likely to justify intimate partner violence than those in earlier surveys, which the authors suggest may reflect shifting social norms and greater awareness. Education and women’s decision-making […]
A Qualitative Study on Youth and Healthcare Provider Perspectives on Youth Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Northern Ghana: Implications for a Peer-Led Intervention.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social and gender norms substantially shape young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services in northern Ghana. Expectations of abstinence before marriage, religious discouragement, and stigma linking contraceptive use with promiscuity create fear of judgment and discourage care-seeking. Young women face particularly strong social consequences because of gendered expectations surrounding […]
Sexual behaviors, HIV self-testing awareness, and uptake among Young People (YP) attending a Ghanaian high school.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social and gender norms may be important barriers to HIV self-testing among young people. The discussion highlights conservative community expectations around adolescent sexuality, stigma surrounding sexual health discussions, and fear of judgment as factors that may discourage young people from requesting or being seen using HIV self-testing kits. The authors also […]
Determinants of Unsafe Abortion Practices Among Young Women in the Bongo District, Ghana.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms and stigma surrounding unintended pregnancy, abortion, contraceptive use, and young women’s sexuality strongly shape unsafe abortion practices in Bongo District. Fear of family shame, community judgment, school expulsion, partner disapproval, and breaches of confidentiality can make the social consequences of an unintended pregnancy feel more immediate than the health […]
Perceptions of sexual violence among adolescents and youth in Senegal and Ghana: Insights into normalization, victim-blaming and prospective behavior
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—especially those related to gender roles, victim-blaming, and the normalization of sexual violence—strongly shape how adolescents and youth understand and respond to sexual violence in Senegal and Ghana. Norms that frame violence as a private matter, legitimize male dominance, and place responsibility on victims contribute to silence and underreporting. The […]
Support or Interference: Relational Influences on Mother’s Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to infant feeding practices, gender roles, and caregiving responsibilities—play a central role in shaping exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) behaviors. Norms around infant thirst, beliefs that breastmilk alone is insufficient, and expectations that grandmothers and other relatives should guide infant feeding often lead to early introduction of water or […]
The Weight of Expectations: Child Marriage Through the Lens of the Socio-Health Dissonance Model (SHDM) in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those tied to parental prestige, community expectations, and authority of traditional leaders—strongly sustain child marriage in rural Ghana. These norms create pressure to conform to early marriage as a marker of respectability and social status, even when individuals are aware of its harms. The Socio-Health Dissonance Model (SHDM) highlights […]