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. […]
Community-level HIV Stigma as a Driver for HIV Transmission Risk Behaviors and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights how community-level HIV stigma—specifically stigmatizing attitudes and disclosure concerns—can shape normative beliefs that influence HIV transmission risk behaviors. Stigmatizing norms contribute to low condom usage and increased rates of self-reported sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially among women. These norms reflect broader societal fears and discriminatory attitudes that marginalize […]
Changing Social Norms in Somalia: Baseline Report on CHANGES Project Addressing Women Empowerment, Female Circumcision and Early Marriage
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The CHANGES baseline shows that while harmful practices like female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage remain prevalent in Somalia, there is a mismatch between people’s perceptions and actual behaviors. Many overestimate child marriage rates and underestimate opposition to FGM/C. This gap presents a key opportunity for social norms change—interventions must […]
Abortion as agentive action: reproductive agency among young women seeking post-abortion care in Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: In Uganda, restrictive gender norms, social stigma, and patriarchal power dynamics profoundly shape how young women experience unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion. While abortion is socially condemned and legally ambiguous, young women enact agency through clandestine abortions as a means of reclaiming control over their futures. The decision to abort is […]
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 Deviance Approach to Understanding Use of Maternal Health Care Services in Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how social norms at the community level—and how individuals deviate from them—play a significant role in shaping maternal health care utilization in Bangladesh. The concept of “positive” and “negative” deviance is used to understand how individuals who differ from prevailing community norms experience different health outcomes. Women who […]
“Social institutions as mediating sites for changing gender norms: Nurturing girls’s resilience to child marriage in Uganda:
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Gender norms in the study communities positioned girls primarily as future wives and mothers, reinforcing early marriage. However, these same norms can be transformed. The study highlights the importance of working with female relatives, senior women teachers, and school-based programming to shift gender expectations, nurture girls’ aspirations, and reduce the social […]