Role of husband’s attitude towards the usage of contraceptives for unmet need of family planning among married women of reproductive age in Pakistan
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that unmet need for family planning (UMNFP) in Pakistan is shaped not only by individual or household characteristics but also by gendered social norms embedded within patriarchal decision-making. Husbands’ opposition to contraception, male control over reproductive decisions, and perceived religious prohibitions were among the strongest predictors of UMNFP. […]
The Role of Social Norm in Acceptability Attitude of Women Toward Intimate Partner Violence in Punjab, Pakistan.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that social norms at the community level strongly shape individual attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV). When wife-beating is perceived as a common and accepted norm within a community, women are significantly more likely to justify IPV themselves, highlighting the powerful role of collective expectations in sustaining harmful […]
“Out there it’s YOLO”: Youth perspectives on a mass media HIV- and gender-based violence campaign in South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The ZAZI intervention demonstrates that using culturally relevant, multimedia campaigns—such as music videos—can challenge and shift social norms that constrain young women’s agency in South Africa. By positioning young women as active agents in their own narratives and confronting norms around sexual silence, gender inequality, and stigma, the campaign promoted collective […]
Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Using Gender-Transformative Approaches at a Community Level in Rural Tanzania: The UZIKWASA Program
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) through gender-transformative, community-level approaches can shift harmful norms surrounding masculinity, femininity, and violence. While the article does not frame its analysis using formal social norms theory (e.g., injunctive or descriptive norms), it provides extensive qualitative evidence of prevailing expectations—such as men’s authority […]
Shifting gender norms to improve HIV service uptake: Qualitative findings from a large-scale community mobilization intervention in rural South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around HIV testing and treatment—particularly those tied to stigma, secrecy, and gendered power—are significant barriers to service uptake for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa. The Tsima intervention showed that transforming these norms—by promoting open communication, supportive male involvement, and reframing testing as a collective responsibility—can […]
‘Poverty can break a home’: Exploring mechanisms linking cash plus programming and intimate partner violence in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights how deeply entrenched gender norms around male authority, women’s subservience, and family roles shape both the occurrence and acceptability of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ghana. While the LEAP 1000 cash-plus program reduced IPV through economic security, conflict reduction, and women’s empowerment, the normative context—particularly around gender roles […]
Gender Norms, Beliefs and Academic Achievement of Orphaned Adolescent Boys and Girls in Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores how entrenched gender norms favoring boys continue to disadvantage orphaned adolescent girls in Uganda’s education system. Despite holding more egalitarian beliefs themselves, girls face societal and familial biases that prioritize boys’ academic success. Encouragingly, adolescents exposed to more gender-equitable beliefs—especially girls—were associated with better academic performance, suggesting that […]
Effectiveness of the Sista2Sista programme in improving HIV and other sexual and reproductive health outcomes among vulnerable adolescent girls and young women in Zimbabwe
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Sista2Sista programme demonstrates that peer group interventions rooted in dialogue, mentorship, and community involvement can influence social norms related to sexual health, education, and gender-based violence among adolescent girls and young women. The program’s emphasis on self-awareness, communication, gender and power, and rights-based decision-making helped shift individual attitudes and behaviors, […]
Norms and sexual relations among adolescents in the context of an intervention trial in rural Zambia.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Adolescents in rural Zambia face conflicting social norms: strong disapproval (injunctive norms) of premarital sex, contraceptive use, and open conversations about sexuality, alongside a widespread (descriptive) norm of transactional sex driven by poverty and peer influence. The RISE intervention reinforced abstinence messaging but failed to shift the restrictive norms that limit […]
Prévenir les mariages précoces et forcés au Bénin (PROJEUNES)
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The PROJEUNES (Preventing early and forced marriage in Benin) project demonstrated that addressing early and forced marriage (EFM) in Benin requires shifting deeply entrenched social norms that define girls’ value in terms of marriageability and fertility. The project successfully fostered critical reflection among youth and community actors, challenging beliefs that favor […]