Contesting restrictive mobility norms among female mentors implementing a sport-based programme for young girls in a Mumbai slum
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that even in highly restrictive settings, collective action and community-rooted programming can empower young women to challenge entrenched gender norms—especially those limiting female mobility and public visibility. The mentors in this program strategically negotiated their participation in public life, gradually shifting their families’ and communities’ perceptions. The social […]
Students and brides: a qualitative analysis of the relationship between girls’ education and early marriage in Ethiopia and India.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study reveals that persistent social norms in Ethiopia and India devalue girls’ education and prioritize early marriage, often reinforcing traditional gender roles that restrict girls’ autonomy and opportunity. These norms include beliefs that educated girls are less marriageable, that marriage should precede education, and that domestic responsibilities and motherhood outweigh […]
Increasing literate and illiterate women’s met need for contraception via empowerment: a quasi-experiment in rural India.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that addressing gender norms within households—especially around women’s mobility and control over earnings—can empower women and increase their ability to meet contraceptive needs. Outreach visits that included messages about gender dynamics were more effective at shifting norms than clinic-based interactions alone. Programs that aim to improve family planning […]
Marketing Gender Norms: A Social Media Experiment in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that digital platforms like Facebook Messenger can be leveraged to shift social norms around gender and violence against women. Format matters: a fictional, humorous video series reduced regressive gender attitudes and acceptance of violence against women, while a documentary format was more effective in motivating public action. Subtle, […]
Using Social Media to Change Gender Norms: An Experiment within Facebook Messenger in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This evaluation affirms that social media can be powerful vehicles for shifting social norms around gender and violence against women in India. The format of media content critically shaped outcomes. A fictional, humorous series led to meaningful reductions in harmful gender norms and increased empathy toward survivors, while a documentary format […]
Transforming the attitudes of young men about gender roles and the acceptability of violence against women, Bihar.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study shows that gender-transformative interventions targeting rural, out-of-school young men can shift harmful norms around masculinity and gender-based violence. Changes were especially strong among boys who regularly attended sessions. Critically, the program worked not just by changing individual attitudes but by influencing what young men believed their peers respected, suggesting […]
More Than Brides Alliance: Endline Evaluation Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The More Than Brides Alliance (MTBA) endline evaluation shows that shifting social norms—particularly around the value of girls’ education, the ideal age of marriage, and gender roles in relationships—is central to reducing child marriage. While individual-level knowledge and attitudes improved across intervention sites, broader normative change was uneven and highly context-specific. […]
Season Three | Consolidated Evaluation Brief
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The MKBKSH (“Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon”) intervention illustrates the power of transmedia edutainment in challenging and reshaping social norms around family planning, gender equality, sanitation, and reproductive health in India. By using relatable storylines, interactive platforms, and community-based “markers” like “Lambi Sagai” and “Aurat ki Marzi ka Din,” the […]
On her own account: How strengthening women’s financial control impacts labor supply and gender norms
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that enhancing women’s financial control can lead to shifts in both individual and community-level gender norms about female labor. Without directly targeting norms, the intervention resulted in more progressive personal beliefs and a reduction in perceived social stigma around women working—particularly among women who were initially constrained by […]
An Entertainment-Education Initiative on Television A glimpse into production process
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The evaluation of Kyunki… Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai illustrates that long-running entertainment-education programs can contribute to shifts in social norms and health behaviors at scale, particularly when built on a robust theoretical foundation and broadcast consistently over time. The show significantly influenced collective perceptions around key reproductive, maternal, newborn, and […]