Temporary acceleration or long-term change? Experimental evidence on female empowerment and intimate partner violence in urban Liberia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The intervention produced a durable shift in how women perceived the normative environment surrounding intimate partner violence. Although women’s own attitudes eventually converged with the control group, treatment participants continued to perceive substantially less community acceptance of violence 3.5 years after the program. The authors interpret this as evidence that intensive […]
Cross-national and multilevel correlates of partner violence: an analysis of data from population-based surveys
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Norms justifying wife beating and endorsing male authority over women’s behavior are strongly associated with higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV). These gender norms not only influence national IPV prevalence but also modify how individual-level factors like education and employment affect women’s risk, highlighting the importance of transforming harmful norms […]
Community influences on modern contraceptive use among young women in low and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional multi-country analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Norms related to ideal family size, early marriage, and gender roles—particularly those that limit women’s autonomy—act as major barriers to contraceptive use. Changing these norms through community-wide interventions, education, and women’s empowerment is essential for increasing contraceptive access and supporting young women’s reproductive agency. Objectives: This study examined how community-level characteristics […]