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 […]
Effects of a violence prevention intervention in schools and surrounding communities: Secondary analysis of a cluster randomized-controlled trial in Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Good School Toolkit intervention effectively shifted social norms surrounding physical discipline both in schools and in surrounding communities. The study found strong reductions in caregivers’ acceptance of physical violence at school and at home, indicating that school-based interventions can catalyze wider normative change. However, changes in actual violence practices at […]
A radio drama’s effects on attitudes toward early and forced marriage: Results from a field experiment in Rural Tanzania
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study examines how entertainment-education can shift attitudes and perceived social norms related to early and forced marriage. Although it does not use formal social norms measurement tools, it assesses perceived descriptive norms (what others do) and injunctive norms (what others approve of) through attitudinal questions about peer and family expectations. […]
Effectiveness of Community Dialogue in Changing Gender and Sexual Norms for HIV Prevention: Evaluation of the Tchova Tchova Program in Mozambique
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—especially injunctive norms around gender and relationship dynamics—significantly influence attitudes and behaviors related to gender equity and HIV prevention. The study finds that exposure to a dialogue-based communication intervention can shift these norms by increasing interpersonal communication and changing what participants perceive others approve or expect. The results highlight the […]
The power of women’s and men’s Social Networks to catalyse normative and behavioural change: evaluation of an intervention addressing Unmet need for Family Planning in Benin
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Tékponon Jikuagou demonstrates that community-based social norms interventions can effectively shift attitudes and behaviors related to family planning (FP) by addressing communication taboos, social expectations, and gender roles. By fostering open dialogue around fertility and contraception within couples and peer networks, the intervention created more supportive environments for reproductive decision-making. While […]
Projet Tékponon Jikuagou: Experiences and Effects of Using NGO Platforms to Scale-Up the TJ Social Network Package
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Tékponon Jikuagou (TJ) project demonstrates that addressing unmet need for family planning (FP) through social network diffusion can effectively shift deeply rooted gender and social norms. Integrating participatory dialogue and reflection into existing development projects enabled changes in attitudes, behaviors, and community expectations around FP. The approach fostered individual and […]
Exploring young women’s reproductive decision-making, agency and social norms in South African informal settlements
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that focusing solely on individual agency overlooks the powerful role of social norms — particularly the expectation that young women should prove their fertility early. Programs aiming to reduce early, unplanned pregnancies must challenge these community and family pressures, while also supporting women’s increasing desire for reproductive control […]
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 […]
Family Factors and Gender Norms as Protective Factors Against Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors Among Adolescent Girls in Southern Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms, particularly traditional gender expectations that discourage premarital sex, may serve as a form of informal social control that deters sexual risk-taking. These norms, reinforced through close family bonds and socialized gender roles, play a critical role in adolescent girls’ behavioral choices. However, while traditional norms may have protective effects, […]
Effectiveness of a multi-level intervention to reduce men’s perpetration of intimate partner violence: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the complexity of transforming deeply entrenched social norms and masculinities that sustain intimate partner violence in informal peri-urban contexts. While the Sonke CHANGE intervention aimed to shift gender norms through community mobilization and reflective dialogue, it was more effective among men with less violent behavior at baseline. The […]