Qualitative research on Breakthrough ACTION’s Advocacy Core Group Model for integrated social behavior change programming in Nigeria
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Adolescent childbearing in northern Nigeria is shaped by social norms around early marriage, gender roles, and family honor. These norms position marriage and motherhood as expected milestones for girls, often reinforced by community and family members. Premarital pregnancy is highly stigmatized, especially for girls, while boys face fewer consequences. Changing these […]
ADOLESCENT TRANSITION IN WEST AFRICA (ATWA) OUTCOME EVALUATION 2022-2023 Endline Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The ATWA program demonstrates that comprehensive, school- and community-based life skills education can lead to early shifts in social norms around gender and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights. Although short-term changes in community-level norms were modest, significant improvements in adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and gender-equitable beliefs suggest that norms around […]
Community Gender Norms Change as a Part of a Multilevel Approach to Sexual Health Among Married Women in Mumbai, India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that key to successful change was aligning gender-equity messages with respected religious doctrine and delivering them through credible sources. Men’s attitudes shifted more rapidly, suggesting the value of engaging male authority figures. In contrast, women’s slower adoption may reflect caution due to possible negative consequences in a patriarchal […]
Transforming gender norms through life-skills programming in rural Ethiopia: short-term impacts and emerging lessons for adaptive programming: Oromia case study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Act With Her-Ethiopia program in Oromia demonstrated that gender-transformative life skills education can improve girls’ voice and agency, parent–adolescent communication, and knowledge around menstruation and violence. However, the program revealed limited or even negative short-term impacts on attitudes toward gender equality, indicating that shifting entrenched norms—particularly among boys and communities—requires […]
Small small quarrels bring about happiness or love in the relationships’: Exploring community perceptions and gendered norms contributing to male perpetrated intimate partner violence in the Central Region of Ghana.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Community norms often uphold male authority and justify IPV. However, resistance from individuals and local leaders shows that change is possible. Interventions should support these shifts by promoting dialogue and empowering women. Objectives: This study explored how gender norms and community attitudes in Ghana’s Central Region contribute to male-perpetrated intimate partner […]
The Role of Gender Norms on Intimate Partner Violence Among Newly Married Adolescent Girls and Young Women in India: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals a counterintuitive association between community-level gender norms and intimate partner violence (IPV) among newly married adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in India. Researchers used two proxy measures of social norms: (1) a community-level equitable gender attitudes index—based on AGYW’s agreement with five statements about gender roles (e.g., […]
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, […]
People Will Talk About Her If She Is Not Circumcised: Exploring the Patterning, Drivers, and Gender Norms Around Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia’s Somali Region
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that female genital mutilation (FGM) in Ethiopia’s Somali region is upheld by intersecting and context-specific social norms tied to religion, culture, femininity, and marriageability. The study applies social norms theory, distinguishing between empirical and normative expectations, and explicitly identifies FGM—especially infibulation—as a deeply entrenched norm. Girls and women […]
What Influences Girls’ Age at Marriage in Burkina Faso and Tanzania? Exploring the Contribution of Individual, Household, and Community Level Factors
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores how social norms—particularly community expectations regarding girls’ age at marriage and parental fears of premarital sex—play a significant role in shaping the prevalence of child marriage, with notable variation by context. In Burkina Faso, social norms among fathers regarding later marriage were significantly associated with lower child marriage […]
Who’s that girl? A qualitative analysis of adolescent girls’ views on factors associated with teenage pregnancies in Bolgatanga, Ghana.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights how social norms around adolescent sexuality and contraception—especially beliefs that family planning is only for married women and that boys should be responsible for condom procurement—shape young women’s sexual decision-making. While many girls exhibited strong agency, clear future goals, and negotiation skills around condom use, normative stigma surrounding […]