Centering female agency while investigating contraceptive use: A case study in Agincourt, South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how young women in rural South Africa navigate deeply embedded social norms surrounding premarital fertility, contraceptive use, and abortion. While community norms stigmatize adolescent sexual activity and pregnancy, women demonstrate significant agency in managing their reproductive health. Contraceptive use is framed as a personal responsibility, often requiring young […]
Attitudes, Norms, and Self-Efficacy: Examining Socio-Cognitive Correlates and Sexual Abstinence Among Ugandan Youth Ages 16–18 years, in the Slums of Kampala, Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The findings underscore the powerful role of peer and parental norms in shaping sexual behavior among Ugandan youth. Programs aiming to delay sexual initiation must go beyond providing knowledge; they should also address the social pressures and normative environments influencing young people’s choices, helping adolescents develop confidence and strategies to navigate […]
Approaches to Regulating Adolescent Sexual Behavior in Ghana: Qualitative Evidence from Somanya and Adidome
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights how collective community norms — especially informal surveillance and shared social responsibility — play a key role in delaying adolescent sexual behavior. In Adidome, strong communal norms and active neighborhood monitoring contributed to lower HIV rates, while in Somanya, weakened cultural practices and lower community cohesion were linked […]
Age-disparate and intergenerational sex partnerships and HIV: the role of gender norms among adolescent girls and young women in Malawi.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Inequitable gender norms—such as male control over women’s healthcare decisions, tolerance of violence, and stigmatization of sexually active women—greatly magnify HIV risks for AGYW in age-mixing relationships. Programs must challenge these harmful norms while promoting girls’ autonomy, education, and economic opportunities to effectively reduce HIV vulnerability. Objectives: This study examined how […]
A reconfiguration of the sex trade: How social and structural changes in eastern Zimbabwe left women involved in sex work and transactional sex more vulnerable
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study shows how social norms around sex work in Zimbabwe were reconfigured during a period of economic collapse and heightened HIV awareness. While overt commercial sex became more stigmatized and publicly condemned—framed as a threat to community health and morality—transactional sex became more widespread and less visible, especially among women […]
A syndemic of inequitable gender norms and intersecting stigmas on condom self-efficacy and practices among displaced youth living in urban slums in Uganda: a community-based cross-sectional study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights how harmful norms and stigma form a “syndemic” that compromises youth sexual health. Norms around gender roles and sexuality foster shame and silence, particularly for girls, and limit their ability to communicate about or use condoms. Effective HIV prevention must include gender-transformative and stigma-reduction approaches that empower youth […]