Gender Norms, Control Over Girls’ Sexuality, and Child Marriage: A Honduran Case Study
Objectives
The study aimed to examine how gender norms linked to marianismo, girls’ mobility, and control over girls’ sexuality shape child marriage in rural Honduras. It sought to quantify the association between a marianismo-based gender norms scale and early marriage and pregnancy, and to use qualitative data to understand how restrictive expectations and adolescent developmental needs interact in girls’ decision-making about entering unions.
Findings
Girls with more traditional gender norms scores were significantly more likely to marry and have a child before age 18 than peers with less traditional views, even after adjusting for wealth and region. Qualitative interviews and focus groups showed that girls are expected to be “de la casa,” with strict limits on mobility, socialisation, and contact with boys, and that any perceived romantic interest attracts gossip, stigma, and harsh punishment at home. Many girls described marriage or informal unions as the only acceptable way to have a romantic or sexual relationship and, in some cases, as an escape from highly controlling households, although unions often brought new restrictions. The diagram on page 4 illustrates how rigid gender norms and control of sexuality clash with adolescents’ normal desire for autonomy, intimacy, and sexual expression, and how this tension can push girls toward child marriage as a constrained choice.
Recommendations
The authors recommend that child marriage prevention efforts in Honduras and similar settings directly address marianismo-based gender norms and the intense regulation of girls’ sexuality, rather than focusing only on schooling or economic support. Educational initiatives in formal and non-formal settings should explain and normalise adolescent attraction and intimacy, promote more egalitarian gender expectations, and reduce stigma around girls’ emerging sexuality for adolescents, parents, teachers, and community leaders. Programmes like the HEY! curriculum that challenge sexist norms and expand safe spaces for girls’ autonomy and relationships should be further developed, rigorously evaluated, and integrated into broader strategies to prevent child marriage.
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