Social Norms exploration on Child, Early, and Forced Marriage, Intimate Partner Violence and Adoption of Familiy planning in Sokoto and Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership project conducted a social norms exploration using the Social Norms Exploration Tool to understand the social norms driving child, early, and forced marriage, intimate partner violence, and early adoption of family planning in selected project areas of Ebonyi and Sokoto, Nigeria.

Further, the social norms exploration aimed to identify the individuals who uphold or enforce social norms by approving or disapproving of these behaviors.
Findings from the assessment showed that these norms limited the decision-making power of adolescent girls and young women and drove pressure to get married early, become pregnant right after marriage and to grow families quickly. In addition, social norms sustained male authority in the household and promoted acceptance of intimate partner violence.
The study found that a variety of key influencers, including family and community members, enforced norms across all behaviors of interest. As such, the findings underscore the need to implement intervention strategies that extend beyond addressing individual-level behavior change and aim to transform norms at the community level to improve social and health outcomes.