Poverty, dowry and the ‘good match’: revisiting community perceptions and practices of child marriage in a rural setting in Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Despite widespread awareness of the harms of child marriage in Bangladesh, the practice persists due to deeply embedded social norms around gender roles, dowry, and family honor. The ideal of a “good match”—where the husband is older, more educated, and dominant—drives early marriage and reinforces female subservience. These norms are maintained […]
Our mothers do not tell us: A qualitative study of adolescent girls’ perspectives on sexual and reproductive health in rural Nepal
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Deeply entrenched norms around gender, sexuality, and family honor significantly limit adolescent girls’ autonomy and access to care. Girls are expected to remain silent, obedient, and sexually inactive, and those who seek SRH services risk social judgment or violence. Interventions must address these collective norms—especially the silence around sexuality and stigma […]
Negotiating Collective and Individual Agency: A Qualitative Study of Young Women’s Reproductive Health in Rural India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that young women’s ability to exercise reproductive agency is tightly linked to the social norms and collective expectations governing their bodies and choices. Programs that only target women risk reinforcing the very power structures they aim to challenge; instead, interventions must engage families, communities, and healthcare systems to […]
Obstacles to the realization of women’s reproductive health rights in Zimbabwe
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This article highlights how entrenched gender norms undermine women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. Norms such as male dominance, expectations of female sexual compliance, polygamy, and wife inheritance severely restrict women’s autonomy. These norms are reinforced by cultural beliefs and practices that prioritize male authority, making it difficult for women to […]
One Step Forwards half a Step Backwards: Changing Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence in Bangladesh.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around male dominance, female obedience, and marital permanence remain powerful drivers of IPV. Progress in women’s rights must be matched by efforts to transform these norms—especially among men and boys—if violence is to decline sustainably. Programming should engage whole communities, address backlash, and support women as they navigate shifting […]
Multilevel factors influencing contraceptive use and childbearing among adolescent girls in Bara district of Nepal: a qualitative study using the socioecological model
Objectives: This study aimed to identify and examine the multilevel factors influencing contraceptive use and childbearing decisions among married adolescent girls in Bara district, Nepal, using the socioecological model to understand how individual, relational, community, and structural influences interact. Methods: A qualitative study design was used, incorporating in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 60 participants—20 married adolescent […]
Multiple levels of social influence on adolescent sexual and reproductive health decision-making and behaviors in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms at interpersonal, community, and macro-social levels significantly shape adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) behaviors in Ghana. Norms that stigmatize adolescent sexuality—rooted in religious and cultural expectations of abstinence and female modesty—limit young women’s access to family planning (FP) services, contribute to secrecy, coercion, and judgment, and ultimately […]
Navigating fertility, reproduction and modern contraception in the fragile context of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: ‘Les enfants sont une richesse’
Key Social Norms Take-aways: In South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, social norms deeply shape reproductive choices, with high fertility linked to social personhood, kinship obligations, and economic hope. Modern contraception introduces new possibilities—but also new uncertainties—as women navigate entrenched gender hierarchies, religious discourses, and fears of social or physical repercussions. Contraceptive use is often […]
Mediating risk through young women’s marital arrangements and intimate relationships in low-income communities in urban India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals how gender norms and ideals of female respectability shape marital arrangements and intimate relationships among low-income young women in urban India. Social norms around family honor (izzat), obedience, and sexual propriety lead families to favor early arranged marriages to mitigate risks like gossip, harassment, or premarital relationships. However, […]
Marriage and sexual and reproductive health of Rohingya adolescents and youth in Bangladesh: a qualitative study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study reveals that among the Rohingya refugee community, social norms around marriage and reproduction are deeply rooted in religious beliefs, gender roles, and protection concerns. Child marriage is widely accepted and tied to norms linking female maturity with readiness for marriage, religious duty, and family honor. Large families are socially […]