Association of collective attitudes and contraceptive practice in nine sub-Saharan African countries
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Community-level gender norms—specifically permissive attitudes toward premarital sex and accepting attitudes toward wife-beating—significantly influence contraceptive use and demand satisfaction among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Permissive norms are associated with greater contraceptive use, while norms accepting wife-beating are linked to lower use. Addressing these norms is key to improving reproductive health outcomes. […]
Associations between village-level norms on marital age and marital choice outcomes among adolescent wives in rural Niger.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that addressing early and forced marriage in Niger requires shifting the broader social environment — particularly the norms among men that shape marital practices — rather than only focusing on girls’ empowerment or individual beliefs. While engaging men is crucial for changing norms, interventions must be designed carefully […]
Age-disparate and intergenerational sex partnerships and HIV: the role of gender norms among adolescent girls and young women in Malawi.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Inequitable gender norms—such as male control over women’s healthcare decisions, tolerance of violence, and stigmatization of sexually active women—greatly magnify HIV risks for AGYW in age-mixing relationships. Programs must challenge these harmful norms while promoting girls’ autonomy, education, and economic opportunities to effectively reduce HIV vulnerability. Objectives: This study examined how […]
Adolescent Girls’ Agency Significantly Correlates With Favorable Social Norms in Ethiopia-Implications for Improving Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young Adolescents.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study finds that favorable social norms—especially descriptive and injunctive norms around early marriage—are significantly associated with greater agency among adolescent girls in Ethiopia. While norms supporting girls’ education and nutrition showed mixed associations, those related to early marriage had the strongest positive correlation with agency. However, agency domains related to […]
Adolescent Girls’ Early Marriage Intention and its Determinants in Eastern Ethiopia: A Social Norms Perspective
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study confirms that early marriage is upheld by strong injunctive and descriptive norms in Eastern Ethiopia. Community expectations and the perception of social rewards or sanctions for compliance contribute heavily to parental intentions. Effective interventions must directly address these social norms—particularly in rural, less-educated populations—by shifting collective beliefs and expectations, […]
A Spatial Analysis of the Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among 0–14-Year-Old Girls in Kenya
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study provides robust evidence that social, moral, and religious norms at the community level are powerful drivers of FGM/C among girls aged 0–14 in Kenya. A mother’s circumcision status, support for continuation of the practice, and belief in its religious necessity are closely linked to her daughter’s risk of being […]
A syndemic of inequitable gender norms and intersecting stigmas on condom self-efficacy and practices among displaced youth living in urban slums in Uganda: a community-based cross-sectional study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights how harmful norms and stigma form a “syndemic” that compromises youth sexual health. Norms around gender roles and sexuality foster shame and silence, particularly for girls, and limit their ability to communicate about or use condoms. Effective HIV prevention must include gender-transformative and stigma-reduction approaches that empower youth […]
A Deviance Approach to Understanding Use of Maternal Health Care Services in Bangladesh
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how social norms at the community level—and how individuals deviate from them—play a significant role in shaping maternal health care utilization in Bangladesh. The concept of “positive” and “negative” deviance is used to understand how individuals who differ from prevailing community norms experience different health outcomes. Women who […]
“Potential of organizing unmarried adolescent girls and young women into self-help groups for a better transition to adulthood: Findings from a cross-sectional study in India”
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how gender norms and structural inequalities restrict adolescent girls’ and young women’s (AGYW) agency in rural India. Social norms that limit girls’ mobility, financial autonomy, and decision-making power are significant barriers. However, organizing AGYW into self-help groups (YWSHGs) creates a platform that enables shifts in these norms. Girls […]
Men’s Perpetration of Partner Violence in Bangladesh: Community Gender Norms and Violence in Childhood
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights the powerful yet complex role of community gender norms in shaping men’s perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Bangladesh. Norms held by senior men—those aged 35–49, often household heads and community influencers—set expectations for masculinity and marital conduct. In communities where senior men endorsed more equitable gender […]