“Out there it’s YOLO”: Youth perspectives on a mass media HIV- and gender-based violence campaign in South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The ZAZI intervention demonstrates that using culturally relevant, multimedia campaigns—such as music videos—can challenge and shift social norms that constrain young women’s agency in South Africa. By positioning young women as active agents in their own narratives and confronting norms around sexual silence, gender inequality, and stigma, the campaign promoted collective […]
Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Using Gender-Transformative Approaches at a Community Level in Rural Tanzania: The UZIKWASA Program
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) through gender-transformative, community-level approaches can shift harmful norms surrounding masculinity, femininity, and violence. While the article does not frame its analysis using formal social norms theory (e.g., injunctive or descriptive norms), it provides extensive qualitative evidence of prevailing expectations—such as men’s authority […]
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
Key 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 […]
The influence of gender-equitable attitudes on sexual behaviour among unmarried adolescents in rural Tanzania: a longitudinal study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study explores how both individual and community-level gender-equitable attitudes influence adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in rural Tanzania. Gender-equitable attitudes were measured using the Gender-Equitable Men (GEM) scale, both at the individual level and aggregated to the village level to capture perceived community norms. The study found […]
How is media content and outreach supporting young Zambians to make sexual and reproductive health decisions?
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Tikambe’s multi-platform approach—combining media content with peer-led outreach—successfully engaged with harmful gender and social norms around adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Zambia. While the project did not explicitly use formal social norms theory, it clearly targeted perceived social expectations around decision-making, contraceptive use, and parent–child communication. These […]
Gaining traction: Promising shifts in gender norms and intimate partner violence in the context of a community-based HIV prevention trial in South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that community mobilization efforts that target harmful gender norms—such as male dominance, IPV tolerance, and communication taboos—can lead to measurable shifts in attitudes, behaviors, and relationship dynamics. Norms change was facilitated by improved access to gender-equitable messages through media, and greater openness in couple communication, helping to reshape […]
Shifting gender norms to improve HIV service uptake: Qualitative findings from a large-scale community mobilization intervention in rural South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around HIV testing and treatment—particularly those tied to stigma, secrecy, and gendered power—are significant barriers to service uptake for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa. The Tsima intervention showed that transforming these norms—by promoting open communication, supportive male involvement, and reframing testing as a collective responsibility—can […]
The Cultural Context of Child Marriage in Nepal and Bangladesh: Findings from CARE’s Tipping Point Project Community Participatory Analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: CARE’s Tipping Point project reveals that deeply entrenched social norms—particularly those around female obedience, sexual purity, family honor, and the marriageability of girls—are among the most powerful forces driving child marriage in Bangladesh and Nepal. Parents often privately support delaying marriage but conform to perceived community expectations due to fear of […]
Impact of Tipping Point Initiative, a social norms intervention, in addressing child marriage and other adolescent health and behavioral outcomes in a northern district of Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This impact evaluation explicitly examines how CARE’s Tipping Point program influenced injunctive and descriptive norms related to gender, marriage, and adolescent girls’ rights in rural Bangladesh. The study used a dedicated norms module to assess what adolescents and adults perceive others expect of them (injunctive norms) and what they believe others […]
Tipping Point Project: Report of the baseline study findings from Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This baseline study explicitly measures and analyzes both injunctive and descriptive norms across domains related to adolescent girls’ mobility, marriage, education, and decision-making in rural Bangladesh. The study defines and operationalizes social norms using structured survey items, capturing what respondents believe others expect of them (injunctive norms) and what they believe […]