Scoping review of social norms interventions to reduce violence and improve SRHR outcomes among adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa
Objectives
The paper set out to map and synthesise experimental and quasi-experimental evidence on social norms interventions aimed at improving sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) outcomes for adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa. It aimed to classify these interventions by strategy, reference groups and SRHR outcomes, including child marriage, and to draw programmatic lessons on what appears to work to shift harmful norms.
Findings
The review identified 40 intervention studies from 12 countries that used social norms components to address outcomes including violence, child marriage, sexual risk behaviours, contraceptive use, HIV and early pregnancy. Norms interventions, especially when combined with life skills, community dialogues, school-based SRHR programming, parenting support, media or digital content and health-service components, showed positive effects on several outcomes, including reduced gender-based violence and child marriage and increased HIV testing and contraceptive use. Effective programmes tended to be multi-component, gender-transformative, participatory, and to engage key reference groups such as peers, caregivers, partners, community leaders and providers, but they rarely described clear strategies for diffusing new norms or sustaining change over time, and evidence on high-risk adolescents and some outcomes (such as sexual risk behaviours and early pregnancy) remained limited and mixed.
Recommendations
The authors recommend that social norms interventions for adolescents integrate structured, gender-transformative content that prompts reflection on gender roles, power and violence, alongside accurate SRHR information and skills-building. They argue that programmes should systematically engage reference groups and combine group-based life skills, community dialogues, school platforms, media and youth-friendly services to reinforce new norms, while deliberately planning for diffusion, scale-up and sustainability. They call for stronger measurement of norms and pathways of change, more implementation research, and greater attention to high-risk and marginalised adolescents so that social norms interventions can more reliably reduce violence, child marriage and other adverse SRHR outcomes across diverse settings in sub-Saharan Africa.
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