Marriage and sexual and reproductive health of Rohingya adolescents and youth in Bangladesh: a qualitative study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals that among the Rohingya refugee community, social norms around marriage and reproduction are deeply rooted in religious beliefs, gender roles, and protection concerns. Child marriage is widely accepted and tied to norms linking female maturity with readiness for marriage, religious duty, and family honor. Large families are socially […]
Married Women’s Justification of Intimate Partner Violence in Bangladesh: Examining Community Norm and Individual-Level Risk Factors.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Findings suggest that community-level norms around intimate partner violence (IPV) are the strongest predictors of women’s justification of IPV in Bangladesh. Specifically, living in communities where wife beating is widely accepted significantly increases the likelihood that women will also view IPV as justified, regardless of their individual characteristics. This underscores the […]
Measuring personal beliefs and perceived norms about intimate partner violence: Population-based survey experiment in rural Uganda.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The findings reveal that social norms around IPV are shaped by whether women are perceived as blameworthy. People are more likely to condone violence if a woman is seen as intentionally violating expectations. The study found that, in the measurement of personal beliefs and perceived norms about the acceptability of intimate […]
Measuring social norms of intimate partner violence to exert control over wife agency, sexuality, and reproductive autonomy: an item response modelling of the IPV-ASRA scale
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study confirms that social norms justifying intimate partner violence to control women’s agency, sexuality, and reproductive autonomy are measurable, culturally salient, and linked to male perpetration of violence in Niger. Importantly, the norms that sanction violence when women challenge male authority—such as going out without permission or arguing—are more strongly […]
Male and female conceptualizations of sexual harassment in Tanzania: The role of consent, male power
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights how social norms in Tanzania shape understandings of sexual harassment, particularly through entrenched gender roles and power dynamics. Norms around male entitlement to women’s bodies, hierarchical power in schools and workplaces, and expectations that women must publicly reject advances for them to be labeled as harassment all contribute […]
It’s a woman’s thing: Gender roles sustaining the practice of female genital mutilation among the Kassena-Nankana of northern Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in northern Ghana is largely sustained by women themselves through social roles, peer pressure, and cultural expectations. While patriarchy provides the broader context, women—particularly mothers, co-wives, and female elders—enforce FGM/C as a condition for respect, marriageability, and community acceptance. Efforts […]
Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Sexual Risk Behaviour: Identifying Shared Determinants among Young Men in Tanzania
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights the critical role of inequitable gender norms—particularly those justifying violence—in fostering both IPV and sexual risk behaviors. Efforts to prevent violence and HIV should integrate gender-transformative approaches that address childhood trauma and promote healthy, equitable masculinities among men in high-risk communities. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the […]
Is transactional sex exploitative? A social norms perspective, with implications for interventions with adolescent girls and young women in Tanzania
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Transactional sex is shaped by deeply rooted social and gender norms in Tanzanian communities. Core norms include male provision in relationships, reciprocal expectations of sex from girls, and peer-driven pressure to achieve a “modern lifestyle” through material possessions. Relationships are often not viewed as exploitative unless there is coercion, power imbalance, […]
Innovative methods to analyse the impact of gender norms on adolescent health using global health survey data.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study emphasizes that addressing adolescent health requires tackling not only individual attitudes but also the broader social norms reinforced by families, peers, schools, and communities. Proxy measures for gender norms—based on patterns of attitudes, behaviors, and their mismatches—offer a powerful tool to identify where social expectations create risks or opportunities […]
Inequitable Gender Norms From Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood in Uganda: Tool Validation and Differences Across Age Groups.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that inequitable gender norms are deeply internalized from early adolescence and are prevalent among youth in Uganda. Younger adolescents aged 10 to 14 showed significantly more support for inequitable norms than their older peers, indicating that gender socialization occurs early and rigidly. These norms, encompassing beliefs about male […]