Effect of community-based voluntary counselling and testing on HIV incidence and social and behavioural outcomes (NIMH Project Accept; HPTN 043): a cluster-randomised trial.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that community-based voluntary counseling and testing (CBVCT) interventions can positively influence social norms around HIV testing. Community mobilization led to more favorable attitudes toward testing, particularly among men, by reducing stigma and encouraging open discussion. While stigma reduction was limited—possibly due to low baseline levels—the intervention succeeded in […]
Designing for two: How enhancing human-centered design with behavioral nudges unlocked breakthroughs to promote young women’s psychological safety and access to reproductive care in Tanzania
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Malkia Klabu intervention in Tanzania demonstrates how social norms that stigmatize adolescent girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) can be strategically shifted through context-sensitive, peer-driven, and incentive-based approaches. The program capitalized on AGYW’s peer networks to normalize SRH-seeking behaviors, reduce gatekeeping by shopkeepers, and foster a sense of […]
More Than Brides Alliance: Endline Evaluation Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The More Than Brides Alliance (MTBA) endline evaluation shows that shifting social norms—particularly around the value of girls’ education, the ideal age of marriage, and gender roles in relationships—is central to reducing child marriage. While individual-level knowledge and attitudes improved across intervention sites, broader normative change was uneven and highly context-specific. […]
HIV/STI Risk-Reduction Intervention Efficacy with South African Adolescents Over 54 Months
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study provides compelling evidence that early, theory-based HIV/STI risk-reduction interventions can foster lasting shifts in sexual behaviors and the psychosocial drivers of behavior among South African adolescents. While not explicitly framed around social norms, the intervention indirectly influenced normative beliefs—particularly perceptions of parental approval and sexual negotiation self-efficacy—highlighting how targeting […]
An Entertainment-Education Initiative on Television A glimpse into production process
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The evaluation of Kyunki… Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai illustrates that long-running entertainment-education programs can contribute to shifts in social norms and health behaviors at scale, particularly when built on a robust theoretical foundation and broadcast consistently over time. The show significantly influenced collective perceptions around key reproductive, maternal, newborn, and […]
A Pilot RCT Evaluating InThistoGether, an mHealth HIV Prevention Program for Ugandan Youth
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Although not explicitly designed to address social norms, the InThistoGether (ITG) intervention engages with implicit normative beliefs around condom use, sexual behavior, and HIV testing among Ugandan youth. By promoting sex-positive messaging and normalizing discussions of condom use and HIV prevention through daily texts, the intervention subtly challenges stigma and harmful […]
The effects of the integration of an economic strengthening and HIV prevention education programme on the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and savings behaviours among adolescents: a full-factorial randomised controlled trial in South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores that social norms, particularly those related to gender dynamics, communication about sex, and financial decision-making, play an important but complex role in shaping adolescent sexual health outcomes. While the integrated intervention aimed to shift norms around gender and economic autonomy, the study found limited evidence of behavioral change. […]
Keeping the Essentials in Place: Lessons Learned from a Qualitative Study of DREAMS in Northern Uganda.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Programs aiming to shift entrenched gender norms must invest in facilitators’ own transformation and ensure implementation stays true to evidence-based designs. Without careful attention, interventions risk reinforcing rather than challenging norms that sustain GBV. Funders should allow time for piloting and local adaptation to maximize transformative impact. Objectives: The study aimed […]
The DREAMS core package of interventions: A comprehensive approach to preventing HIV among adolescent girls and young women
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The DREAMS initiative highlights how shifting harmful gender norms—particularly those that disempower adolescent girls and young women and condone gender-based violence—is essential for reducing HIV risk. The program uses community mobilization and engagement of male partners and leaders to transform norms around gender, sexuality, and power dynamics. Safe spaces and mentor-led […]
Effectiveness of curriculum-based sexual and reproductive health education on healthy sexual behaviors among year one students at Arba Minch University: A quasi-experimental study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Improvements in some individual attitudes about sexual and reproductive health were seen as contributors to normative change over time by challenging stigma and misinformation, even if collective norm shifts are not yet visible. The findings suggest that there is still a need for longer-term efforts and potentially more targeted strategies to […]