Key Social Norms Take-aways This study highlights how challenging entrenched social norms around male aggression in intimate relationships requires not only community visibility but also strategies that shift both multiple types of norms. While the use of physical and verbal aggression remained prevalent in Sri Lanka’s plantation communities, early signs of weakening norms—particularly those related to women’s silence and submission—emerged over the course of the intervention. A key insight is that shifting social expectations, even in the absence of behavior change, can mark the beginning of norm transformation and provide a pathway for deeper, long-term change.
Objectives The ReNEW project aimed to reduce intimate partner violence by identifying, challenging, and measuring changes in the social norms that underpin male aggression during marital conflict among Sri Lanka’s marginalized tea plantation communities.
Methods The study employed a mixed-methods approach including baseline and endline surveys with 314 participants, vignettes for focus group discussions, and qualitative interviews with reference group members. Social norms were measured through indicators of empirical and normative expectations regarding conflict resolution behaviors among men and women, with attention to sanctions, acceptability, and perceived prevalence.
Intervention Details Implemented by CARE Sri Lanka and the Sevalanka Foundation, the intervention consisted of four components: engaging influential community reference groups, conducting 35 public talk shows on gender and masculinity, implementing a targeted media campaign (posters, radio spots, and a song), and delivering school-based programs focused on anger and aggression. Messaging was carefully designed using social norms theory to challenge both what people believe others do and what they believe others expect them to do.
Results The intervention achieved a statistically significant reduction in normative expectations that condone male aggression in resolving marital disputes and a reduction in social perceptions about women’s required silence. Although norms around men’s aggression remained largely intact, vignettes and community narratives revealed cracks in these norms and growing acknowledgment of non-aggressive alternatives. However, individual attitudes shifted negatively, with more participants expressing acceptance of aggressive behavior by endline, highlighting a disconnect between personal beliefs and social expectations.
Conclusions Even in deeply patriarchal settings, short-term interventions can contribute to the weakening of harmful social norms by making non-violence visible and acceptable. Changing attitudes may not immediately align with shifting norms, but publicly modeling alternatives and engaging community influencers can lay critical groundwork. Future interventions should prioritize sustained community engagement and explore strategies to address backlash and deepen alignment between attitudes, norms, and behaviors.