Exploring intersections of localised gender norms and unanticipated effects of a sexual and reproductive health intervention: implications of respect and being a ‘good girl’ in Zambézia Province, Mozambique
Outcomes: Gender‑Based Violence, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Women’s Economic Empowerment
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways This study shows that deeply held gender norms about being a “good girl” — including deference, modesty, and sexual restraint — strongly shaped how a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) intervention was perceived in rural Mozambique. While the Women First program aimed to empower girls, it unintentionally reinforced local expectations of submissiveness and proper behavior, potentially limiting girls’ agency. Programs must be designed to challenge, not reinforce, restrictive social norms to truly promote gender equality and improve SRH outcomes.
Objectives To explore how local gender norms around respectability and ideal female behavior intersected with the perceived impacts of the Women First intervention and how these perceptions influenced adolescent girls’ roles and status in the community.
Methods The study involved two rounds of qualitative data collection, including 211 interviews and focus group discussions with adolescent girls (ages 13–19), their household heads, influential men, and community members across 12 rural communities in Zambézia Province. Thematic analysis focused on how community members defined respect and linked the program to improved behavior among girls.
Intervention Details Implemented from 2010 to 2015 as part of the USAID-funded SCIP Project, Women First combined small business training (e.g., selling cakes, soap) with a group education curriculum called Go Girls! The curriculum covered gender norms, HIV prevention, puberty, and goal setting. The intervention targeted vulnerable adolescent girls to reduce HIV risk, gender-based violence, and improve school attendance.
Results Community members widely credited the intervention with making girls more respectful, better behaved, and more socially acceptable. Traits associated with being “good” included obedience, modest dress, productivity, sexual abstinence, and school attendance. However, many of these behaviors reflected existing gender norms rather than the intervention’s empowerment goals. Girls who did not participate in the program were often stigmatized, and the reinforcement of deferential behavior may have undermined girls’ ability to negotiate safe sex or report abuse.
Conclusions SRH interventions must consider how local norms shape program outcomes. While community approval can boost perceived success, true empowerment requires engaging communities to critically reflect on and transform restrictive gender expectations rather than reinforcing them.
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