‘I wanted to enjoy our marriage first… but I got pregnant right away’: a qualitative study of family planning understandings and decisions of women in urban Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights how social norms around marriage, fertility, and womanhood shape postpartum family planning in urban Yogyakarta. There was a strong expectation that women should become pregnant soon after marriage, particularly among those who married in their late twenties or thirties. These norms often overrode women’s personal desires to delay […]
“Trading daughters for livestock”: An ethnographic study of facilitators of child marriage in Lira district, Northern Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how child marriage in Northern Uganda is deeply driven by harmful gender norms that view girls as economic assets. Norms prioritizing boys’ education and associating girls’ worth with bride price and reproductive roles fuel early marriage. Girls are considered ready for marriage at puberty, and families commonly see […]
“We Don’t Fear HIV. We Just Fear Walking around Pregnant.”: A Qualitative Analysis of Adolescent Sexuality and Pregnancy Stigma in Informal Settlements in Kisumu, Kenya.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: In Kisumu, Kenya, adolescent girls face intense social stigma around sexuality and pregnancy, with pregnancy seen as the most feared and shame-inducing consequence of sexual activity. Unlike HIV—which is viewed as treatable—pregnancy visibly signals sexual behavior and attracts harsh judgment from families, communities, and healthcare providers. These stigmas suppress open dialogue, […]