You can’t burn the house down because of one bedbug: a qualitative study of changing gender norms in the prevention of violence against women and girls in an urban informal settlement in India.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that norm change is most promising where descriptive norms (what people actually do) are starting to shift ahead of injunctive norms (what people believe should be done). Programs should focus on creating spaces where women and men can connect with broader, more progressive reference groups, helping reinforce new, […]
A qualitative study of adolescent girls’ experiences of menarche and menstruation in rural Tamil Nadu, India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals how adolescent girls’ experiences of menarche and menstruation in rural Tamil Nadu are deeply shaped by cultural codes and gender norms. While the study does not use formal social norms measurement tools, it explicitly explores how norms are constructed, maintained, and reproduced through social practices, especially those related […]
Understanding the Sociality of Child Marriage
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that social norms—especially those surrounding gender roles, dowry, and the perceived value of girls—play a more influential role than economic factors in shaping attitudes and decisions around girls’ education and child marriage in India. Mothers, in particular, often internalize and reproduce norms prioritizing domestic roles and early marriage […]
Social and economic marginalisation and sexual and reproductive health and rights of urban poor young women: a qualitative study from Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how deeply embedded gender norms restrict urban poor young women’s sexual and reproductive autonomy in Gujarat, India. Respondents widely internalized dominant norms that stigmatize menstruation, silence sexual desire, and normalize male control over fertility decisions. These norms were enforced through restrictions on dress, mobility, and sexuality—especially after puberty—and […]
Restrictions on contraceptive services for unmarried youth: a qualitative study of providers beliefs and attitudes in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights how entrenched social norms stigmatizing premarital sex in India shape healthcare providers’ attitudes and behaviors toward unmarried youth seeking contraceptive services. Providers often internalize and reinforce these norms, leading to restricted access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for unmarried adolescents. Even when legally permissible, many providers […]
Qualitative Examination of the Role and Influence of Mothers-in-Law on Young Married Couples’ Family Planning in Rural Maharashtra, India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the pervasive influence of mothers-in-law (MILs) on family planning (FP) behaviors among young married couples in rural Maharashtra, India. MILs reinforce entrenched gender and fertility norms, including expectations for early childbearing, son preference, and female sterilization after achieving desired family size. Although some MILs acknowledged generational shifts and […]
Negotiating Collective and Individual Agency: A Qualitative Study of Young Women’s Reproductive Health in Rural India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that young women’s ability to exercise reproductive agency is tightly linked to the social norms and collective expectations governing their bodies and choices. Programs that only target women risk reinforcing the very power structures they aim to challenge; instead, interventions must engage families, communities, and healthcare systems to […]
Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Gender norms that reinforce male authority and stigmatize women’s contraceptive use remain major barriers to family planning access in India. Programs must work at the community level to transform harmful beliefs among men, promote women’s empowerment across multiple domains (especially employment), and create supportive environments for women’s reproductive decision-making. Objectives: This […]
Mediating risk through young women’s marital arrangements and intimate relationships in low-income communities in urban India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals how gender norms and ideals of female respectability shape marital arrangements and intimate relationships among low-income young women in urban India. Social norms around family honor (izzat), obedience, and sexual propriety lead families to favor early arranged marriages to mitigate risks like gossip, harassment, or premarital relationships. However, […]
Interpersonal Communication as an Agent of Normative Influence: A Mixed Method Study among the Urban Poor in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that interpersonal communication plays a critical role in how social norms influence contraceptive use among married women in urban poor areas of Uttar Pradesh, India. Using the theory of normative social behavior, it finds that descriptive norms (what people perceive others are doing) and injunctive norms (perceptions of […]