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 […]
Shifts in female genital mutilation/cutting in Kenya: Perspectives of families and health care providers
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates that social norms—particularly those around cultural identity, marriageability, religious obligations, and control of female sexuality—strongly sustain the practice of FGM/C in Kenya. Despite growing awareness of health risks and legal prohibitions, communities are adapting through shifts in the practice (e.g., cutting at younger ages, medicalisation, and less severe […]
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 […]
Rethinking HIV-prevention for school-going young people based on current behaviour patterns.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Perceived social norms—especially peer expectations around sexual activity—were the strongest predictors of risk behavior. Gender norms that promote male dominance and discourage condom use contribute to risky practices. The study underscores the need to reshape social norms through peer group interventions, gender-transformative education, and community-wide engagement, particularly involving caregivers. Sustainable change […]
Predicting Primary and Secondary Abstinence Among Adolescent Boys and Girls in the Western Cape, South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms are critical predictors of adolescents’ intentions to abstain from sex, particularly among those who have not yet initiated sexual activity. The study demonstrates that social norms supporting abstinence influence youth intentions more effectively than risk perception or knowledge alone. This suggests that interventions aiming to delay sexual debut should […]
Processing gender: lived experiences of reproducing and transforming gender norms over the life course of young people in Northern Uganda.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that changing gender norms is not a straightforward process; it involves ongoing negotiation shaped by personal, social, and structural forces. Interventions that aim to shift harmful norms must engage families, peers, schools, and communities, while also empowering young people with knowledge, confidence, and supportive networks to challenge inequitable […]
Parent-Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Communication Is Very Limited and Associated with Adolescent Poor Behavioral Beliefs and Subjective Norms: Evidence from a Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-Aways: Adolescents’ poor communication with parents about sexual and reproductive health is strongly influenced by social norms and beliefs. Many adolescents believe that talking about sexual and reproductive health with parents is inappropriate, embarrassing, or could lead to negative consequences. These subjective norms—especially when reinforced by peer expectations—discourage open dialogue. Gender norms […]
Obstacles to the realization of women’s reproductive health rights in Zimbabwe
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This article highlights how entrenched gender norms undermine women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. Norms such as male dominance, expectations of female sexual compliance, polygamy, and wife inheritance severely restrict women’s autonomy. These norms are reinforced by cultural beliefs and practices that prioritize male authority, making it difficult for women to […]
Men’s Perpetration of Partner Violence in Bangladesh: Community Gender Norms and Violence in Childhood
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that gender-equitable community norms among senior men are associated with lower levels of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by younger men in Bangladesh. However, these norms do not mitigate the increased risk of IPV linked to childhood exposure to violence. This suggests that while shifting norms is […]
Multiple levels of social influence on adolescent sexual and reproductive health decision-making and behaviors in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms at interpersonal, community, and macro-social levels significantly shape adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) behaviors in Ghana. Norms that stigmatize adolescent sexuality—rooted in religious and cultural expectations of abstinence and female modesty—limit young women’s access to family planning (FP) services, contribute to secrecy, coercion, and judgment, and ultimately […]