Forced Sex and Early Marriage: Understanding the Linkages and Norms in a Humanitarian Setting.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights powerful injunctive norms in humanitarian settings that contribute to harmful practices linking rape and early marriage. In South Kivu, DRC, both adolescent girls and caregivers commonly view marriage as the appropriate response to rape—particularly when the perpetrator is known. These norms reflect and reinforce the belief that a […]
Gender norms and health: insights from global survey data
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Gender norms—context-specific beliefs about appropriate behavior for different genders—shape health outcomes across the life course. This study highlights that non-conformity to gender norms often results in health harms, especially for girls and women. These norms intersect with religion, wealth, and geography, creating complex patterns of health inequity. Addressing gender norms is […]
Factors associated with gender equality among church-going young men in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo: A cross-sectional study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals that church-going young men in Kinshasa, DRC, largely endorse inequitable gender norms, including male dominance in the home, rigid views on male sexuality, and acceptance of violence against women. While some supported equitable norms—such as joint decision-making on family planning—dominant attitudes aligned with patriarchal, heteronormative views of masculinity. […]
Factors associated with sexual and reproductive health stigma among adolescent girls in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights how pervasive gendered social norms frame adolescent sexuality as shameful and dangerous. These norms fuel stigma around contraception, pregnancy, and SRH care-seeking. Interventions must challenge these beliefs through comprehensive SRH education, supportive dialogue, and community-wide norm change efforts that empower girls with information, confidence, and access to services. […]
Exploring social norms around reproductive health affecting unmarried adolescent girls and young women in Burundi
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how deeply entrenched gender norms in Burundi shape adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Eight social norms emerged as having the greatest influence: sexuality and reproductive health are not discussed openly in households or the community, and it is not considered socially acceptable to do so; it is […]
Exploring the socio-ecological levels for prevention of sexual risk behaviours of the youth in uMgungundlovu District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms that endorse male dominance, multiple partnerships, and early sexual activity significantly shape youth sexual behaviours in uMgungundlovu, KwaZulu-Natal. These norms, entrenched across family, community, and institutional levels, particularly disadvantage girls, fostering gender inequality, intimate partner violence, and limited sexual agency. The findings stress that interventions must address not just […]
Evaluating the Validity and Reliability of the Gender Equitable Men’s Scale Using a Longitudinal Cohort of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights the importance of critically assessing how gender norms are measured across time and developmental stages. While the Gender Equitable Men’s Scale (GEMS) performs well overall in tracking changes in beliefs among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), individual items within the scale exhibit bias depending on life experiences […]
Examining Masculinities to Inform Gender-Transformative Violence Prevention Programs: Qualitative Findings From Rakai, Uganda.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that two dominant, context-dependent masculine norms—“reputation” (cool masculinity) and “respectability” (responsible masculinity)—shape men’s identities and justify violence against women in Rakai, Uganda. Masculinity tied to sexual prowess and dominance over women is socially rewarded among peers, while responsibility, marriage, and fatherhood are valued by the broader community. Both […]
Exploring resource scarcity and contextual influences on wellbeing among young refugees in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, Uganda: findings from a qualitative study.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Inequitable gender norms—reinforced by dowry practices, expectations of sexual availability, and gendered labor roles—exacerbate the vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women in humanitarian settings. These norms interact with resource scarcity to intensify exposure to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), particularly in contexts of poverty, idleness, and environmental degradation. The study […]
Eat and you will be eaten’: A qualitative study exploring costs and benefits of age-disparate sexual relationships in Tanzania and Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Age-disparate sexual relationships among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Tanzania and Uganda are shaped by entrenched social and gender norms that normalize transactional sex and male dominance while limiting girls’ agency. The expression “eat and you will be eaten” reflects a widespread expectation that accepting gifts or money from […]