Attitude towards gender roles and violence against women and girls (VAWG): baseline findings from an RCT of 1752 youths in Pakistan.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that patriarchal gender attitudes among Pakistani adolescents are shaped by social norms within peer groups, families, and schools. Peer violence, corporal punishment, child marriage expectations, and exposure to violence at home serve as indicators of gender norms that reinforce inequality. The authors argue that because peer norms are […]
Women’s Perceptions and Experiences of Domestic Violence: An Observational Study From Hyderabad, Pakistan
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that patriarchal social norms shape how women recognize, tolerate, and respond to domestic violence in Pakistan. Women were more likely to identify physical violence as abuse than sexual or psychological violence, and many remained silent because of expectations that women preserve family harmony, obey male authority, and avoid […]
Tékponon Jikuagou: Final Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The TJ project confirms that social norms—particularly those linked to gender roles, fertility expectations, and open discussion about family planning (FP)—are key barriers to meeting unmet FP needs. Norms that limit women’s autonomy, discourage spousal communication, and stigmatize FP use are reinforced through social networks. TJ demonstrated that influencing social norms […]
Evaluation of a male engagement intervention to transform gender norms and improve family planning and HIV service uptake in Kabale, Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights the difficulty of transforming entrenched gender norms through short-duration, community-based interventions without adequately trained facilitators. Although some improvements were observed in men’s health-seeking behaviors, meaningful changes in gender attitudes were minimal. The findings underscore that deeply held cultural beliefs are resistant to change, especially when interventions are not […]
Encoded exposure and social norms in entertainment-education
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study provides empirical evidence that entertainment-education (EE) programs can influence social norms directly through audience exposure, without necessarily relying on behavior change as a mediator. It highlights the importance of “encoded exposure”—a multi-dimensional measure capturing attention, recall, involvement, and frequency of engagement—with findings suggesting that deep and sustained involvement with […]
The doing and undoing of male household decision-making and economic authority in Rwanda and its implications for gender transformative programming
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This formative research shows that social norms in Rwanda—such as expectations of male authority, the acceptability of wife-beating, and women’s responsibility to endure suffering for the sake of marriage—play a critical role in sustaining IPV. The findings underscore the importance of designing interventions like Indashyikirwa to confront not just individual behaviors […]
Measuring the effects of the radio drama Impano n’Inpamba: fertility awareness and family planning results
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The evaluation of Impano n’Impamba demonstrates that entertainment-education can be a powerful vehicle for shifting knowledge and initiating dialogue around fertility awareness and family planning. While the drama increased fertility awareness and intermediate outcomes (like self-efficacy and discussion), it did not lead to statistically significant increases in modern contraceptive use. This […]
Improving reproductive, maternal and newborn health using health communication in Ethiopia Final evaluation
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how discriminatory social norms—particularly those tied to gender roles, male dominance in decision-making, and community perceptions of appropriate behavior for girls—undermine girls’ education and bodily autonomy in Ethiopia. While individual attitudes often appear more progressive, fear of social sanctions and perceived community expectations create barriers to change. The […]
You can’t burn the house down because of one bedbug: a qualitative study of changing gender norms in the prevention of violence against women and girls in an urban informal settlement in India.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that norm change is most promising where descriptive norms (what people actually do) are starting to shift ahead of injunctive norms (what people believe should be done). Programs should focus on creating spaces where women and men can connect with broader, more progressive reference groups, helping reinforce new, […]
Women’s Work, Gender Roles, and Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how prevailing gender norms—particularly male approval of wife beating and male dominance in household decision-making—shape the relationship between women’s economic participation and intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nigeria. Women’s employment, especially in contexts where traditional gender norms are strongly upheld, may increase their risk of IPV, suggesting that […]