In 2018-2019, the Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation, and Abuse (LINEA) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Care and Protection of Children (CPC) Learning Network at Columbia University will jointly host a webinar series. The key theme of the series is social norms as they relate to the fields of gender-based violence, violence against children, sexual exploitation and the abuse of children and adolescents.

How can we better understand what norms underlie and sustain such violence and exploitation, and how can we transform them through promoting positive norms for child and adolescent development and well-being?  Academics, practitioners, and activists will share their latest learning about the linkages between social norms and violence, exploitation, and abuse. We aim to profile the most cutting-edge research and programming to advance knowledge and understanding of these issues among members of our networks and beyond.

Those interested are invited to explore the riveting and ground-breaking approach of how understanding the impact of social norms can present itself as a novel avenue to address issues surrounding the prevention of all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse of children and adolescents.

Nigeria Turns Purple! Innovative Approaches to Creating and Measuring Social Norms Change

Voices for Change (V4C) sought to strengthen the enabling environment for young women’s empowerment in Nigeria. It did this by taking a norms marketing approach to inspire young people’s attitudinal and behaviour change towards women’s role in household decision-making, women’s leadership, and violence against women and girls.

Presenters: Clare Hughes, Coline Enye, Claire Hughes, Elaine Denny

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Gender norms and violence
In this webinar, Dr. Holly Shakya defined social network analysis, using examples of how it can be used for identifying reference groups. The webinar also provided a short introduction to social norms theory, and its relevance in modern health and behavioral research as well as modern development work.

Presenters: Dr. Holly Shakya, Assistant Professor of Global Public Health at the University of California San Diego

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Challenging Evaluation Norms Photovoice, Sensemaker, and Assessing Social Norms Change

The webinar shares about how the evaluation of CARE’s Tipping Point project applied Sensemaker® and Photovoice to identify changes in social norms about adolescent girls in Nepal and Bangladesh. The links between CARE’s approach to social norms and the Sensemaker® tool development process was discussed, as well as the benefits and challenges of data interpretation comparing Sensemaker® with qualitative FGD data. The webinar shares how CARE is using the results of the analyses to inform iterative program design and future evaluation research.

Presenters: Elizabeth Brezovich, Senior Technical Advisor, Design, MEL and Operations, Tipping Point

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How Social Norms Can Reflect and Create Social Inequalities

When turning to norm change as a potential solution to social problems, we must acknowledge that norms are both shaped by and create social inequalities.This presentation considers how norms and social control are applied differently to people from different social groups and how individuals have differing capacities to comply with and enforce norms. It draws on data from two U.S. cases, teen sex and pregnancy and young people’s use of technology, to discuss implications for norm-based interventions and norm change.

Presenters: Dr. Stefanie Mollborn, Institute of Behavioral Science and Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder

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Community Perceptions of Transactional Sex with Children and Adolescent Girls

The sexual exploitation of children and adolescents is a frequently underestimated health problem which includes transactional sex (TS), or the practice of sexual activity based on an expected return of benefits, favours and/or support in some form. This presentation will highlight a qualitative study focused on age-disparate transactional sex (ATS) in urban favela communities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between adult men (over 18) and girls (under 18), involving a minimum 5-year age disparity. We will present the research background, design, methods and the main findings of the qualitative phase, which employed social norms theory.

Presenters: Caroline F. Ignacio, Research Coordinator at Instituto PromundoLinda Cerdeira, Program Coordinator at Instituto Promundo

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Preventing Sexual Exploitation of Adolescent Girls in Age Disparate Transactional Sex in Tanzania

From June through August 2018, the Learning Initiative on Norms Exploitation and Abuse (LINEA), with partner organisation Amani Girls Home, feasibility tested 12 new curriculum sessions and 15 original radio drama scenes for transforming social norms underpinning transactional sex between adult men and young adolescent girls in north-western Tanzania. Using qualitative methods, the joint study investigated the community acceptability, contextual and cultural relevance, as well as implementation feasibility, of the curriculum and radio drama.

Presenter: LINEA

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Gendered Attitudes and Norms

This presentation showcased innovative findings from two case studies examining the relationships between gender norms and intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration in Nigeria. The first study assesses how an adolescent girl’s risk of experiencing intimate partner violence varies according to her engagement in work outside the home as well community-level norms around female labor. The second study explores how mental health outcomes associated with intimate partner violence perpetration may differ by gender.

Presenters: Lindsay Stark, DrPH Ilana Seff, MPH, DrPH Candidate Ben Cislaghi, PhD