Overcoming structural violence through community-based safe-spaces: Qualitative insights from young women on oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Kisumu, Kenya.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to gender roles, stigma around HIV and PrEP, and expectations governing young women’s behavior—are deeply embedded within broader systems of structural violence and significantly shape access to HIV prevention services. The study highlights that norms around female respectability, sexuality, and obedience, as well as stigma linking PrEP […]
Gender norms in sexual and reproductive health and rights: insights from young Angolan women and the development of a context-specific questionnaire (2021-2022).
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Gender norms are central to shaping young women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Angola, operating through socially shared expectations around education, autonomy, relationships, and reproduction. The study highlights that norms are unevenly supported across domains and geographies, with stronger acceptance of education and relational autonomy but weaker support […]
Intervention-amenable factors associated with lack of HPV vaccination in Kenya: Results from a large national phone survey.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly perceptions of what other parents are doing (descriptive norms) and the extent of social interaction around vaccination—play a critical role in HPV vaccine uptake. The study highlights that when caregivers believe that other parents are vaccinating their daughters, and when they engage in conversations about vaccination within their social […]
Support or Interference: Relational Influences on Mother’s Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to infant feeding practices, gender roles, and caregiving responsibilities—play a central role in shaping exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) behaviors. Norms around infant thirst, beliefs that breastmilk alone is insufficient, and expectations that grandmothers and other relatives should guide infant feeding often lead to early introduction of water or […]
The intersection of career aspirations and family planning among women in Lagos State: a qualitative analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to gender roles, spousal authority, and expectations around motherhood—play a central role in shaping women’s family planning decisions in Lagos. The discussion highlights that patriarchal norms position men as primary decision-makers in reproductive matters, often limiting women’s autonomy and requiring spousal approval for contraceptive use. At the […]
“The child of your fellow is your child”: Building on existing protective norms to engage men as caregivers; qualitative findings from an exploratory evaluation of an edutainment intervention to prevent age-disparate transactional sex
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to gender roles, masculinity, caregiving, and community responsibility—can be effectively shifted by building on existing positive and protective norms rather than introducing entirely new ones. The discussion emphasizes that norms positioning men primarily as financial providers can be expanded to include emotional engagement, caregiving, and active involvement […]
Assessing the application of adapted theory of planned behaviour in predicting postpartum family planning intentions in a pragmatic randomized control trial in Western Kenya
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—captured as perceived normative beliefs and partner/community expectations—are a central driver of postpartum family planning (PPFP) intentions. The study shows that women are more likely to intend to use PPFP when they perceive approval and support from significant others (e.g., partners, family, providers). Normative beliefs operate alongside attitudes and perceived […]
Validating measurement of social norms for entertainment-education: a five-factor model
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms are multi-dimensional constructs that must be measured across distinct but related domains—descriptive norms, injunctive norms, and outcome expectations—to fully capture how they influence behavior. The study underscores that norms are not a single unified concept but operate through different pathways, including perceptions of what others do, what others approve […]
Motivations for Starting and Stopping PrEP: Experiences of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in the HPTN 082 Trial
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to gender, sexuality, and HIV stigma—are central to adolescent girls’ and young women’s (AGYW) decision-making around PrEP use, often outweighing individual risk perceptions. The discussion emphasizes that norms such as expectations of male infidelity, acceptance of condomless sex in relationships, stigma linking PrEP to HIV infection or […]
Association of fertility-related attitudes and norms among adolescent wives, husbands, and mothers-in-law with wives’ fertility desires in rural Niger
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly descriptive norms (what others do) and injunctive norms (what others approve)—play a more powerful role than individual attitudes in shaping adolescent wives’ fertility desires in rural Niger. The discussion highlights that pronatalist norms, reinforced through expectations about birth spacing and social sanctions for delaying pregnancy, constrain women’s reproductive autonomy […]