Sociocultural factors perpetuating the practices of early marriage and childbirth in Sylhet District, Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals that in Sylhet District, Bangladesh, deeply rooted social norms around fertility and gender roles strongly pressure newly married adolescents to have children immediately after marriage. The social expectation that childbearing affirms a woman’s value and ensures her acceptance into her husband’s family discourages contraceptive use and delays in […]
Social norms and family planning decisions in South Sudan
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms deeply influence reproductive behavior in the Fertit community of South Sudan, particularly through expectations around high fertility, male decision-making, and limited female agency. However, these norms are shifting. Emerging beliefs support spacing pregnancies and investing in children’s wellbeing, challenging long-standing norms that emphasize having many children. The post-conflict context […]
Social Norms and Security and Justice Services for Gender-based Violence in Nepal: Programmatic Implications from a Baseline Mixed-Methods Assessment
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that deeply rooted patriarchal social norms—centered around family honor, obedience to elders, and the sanctity of marriage—significantly deter help-seeking for gender-based violence (GBV) in Nepal. Despite increased awareness and formal justice mechanisms, women often face strong sanctions for reporting violence, including stigma, community ostracism, and familial rejection. These […]
Social norms and women’s risk of intimate partner violence in Nepal
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that social norms—particularly perceived and collective community expectations regarding gender roles, family honor, and the acceptability of violence—are significantly associated with women’s risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nepal. Notably, women’s perceptions of community beliefs about male control, female submissiveness, and the legitimacy of violence to maintain […]
Social norm coordination and readiness to change female genital cutting: Evidence from Senegambia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reinforces the social coordination norm model of female genital cutting (FGC), showing that decisions around FGC are deeply influenced by the anticipated social benefits of conformity and the costs of deviation. Families often act not purely out of individual preference but in response to the behavior and expectations of […]
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 […]
Social Determinants of Married Women’s Attitudinal Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the powerful role of patriarchal community norms in shaping women’s attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) in Bangladesh. Among all community-level factors, prevailing gender norms—specifically the level of acceptance of wife beating in the community—had the strongest influence on women’s own attitudes. The findings reveal that even women […]
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 […]
Quantitative Proxies for Social Norms: A Proposed Approach for Interrogating Clustering, Reference Groups, and Validity
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This article highlights the critical need to rigorously validate quantitative proxy measures of social norms, particularly in IPV research. It shows that norms around IPV, such as male dominance and the acceptability of violence, are best captured using group-level aggregates of men’s attitudes. Men’s social norms were more strongly aligned with […]
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 […]