Social Norms

In recent years the development community has witnessed an upsurge of interest in the role that social norms may play in perpetuating a host of harmful practices, especially practices affecting women and girls. There has long been interest in how deeply held beliefs, attitudes, and norms can justify male dominance and reinforce behaviour and institutions that discriminate again women. Despite this recognition, there has been little conceptual clarity about the distinctions between these various constructs or how they relate to actual practices such as female genital cutting, domestic violence, or early marriage. This reading pack is designed to help practitioners begin to understand these distinctions.

Read the resource here

Source: GDRSC Applied Knowledge Services

Authors: Lori Heisi and Karima Manji

Year of publication: 2016