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Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Women's Health

2020

Behavior Change Communication

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Demography, Population, and Ecology

Tracing Change In Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Through Social Networks: An Intersectional Analysis Of The Influence Of Gender, Generation, Status, And Structural Inequality, Amadou Moreau, Bettina Shell-Duncan Feb 2020

Tracing Change In Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Through Social Networks: An Intersectional Analysis Of The Influence Of Gender, Generation, Status, And Structural Inequality, Amadou Moreau, Bettina Shell-Duncan

Reproductive Health

Policies and programs designed to eliminate female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Senegal have been implemented over several decades, but the practice has been surprisingly tenacious. Strategies for accelerating abandonment have been informed by theories of change, and social norms theory, in particular, has become a prominent framework for understanding behavior change dynamics. FGM/C is held in place by interdependent normative expectations: what one family chooses to do is linked to expectations of others and reinforced through social sanctions. Hence, a key strategy for promoting behavior change rests on coordinating change in norms and behavior among people who interact with one …


Exploring The Nature And Extent Of Normative Change In Fgm/C In Somaliland, Richard A. Powell, Mohamed Yussuf, Bettina Shell-Duncan, Caroline W. Kabiru Feb 2020

Exploring The Nature And Extent Of Normative Change In Fgm/C In Somaliland, Richard A. Powell, Mohamed Yussuf, Bettina Shell-Duncan, Caroline W. Kabiru

Reproductive Health

More than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM/C across 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. While most affected countries have adopted legal frameworks prohibiting FGM/C, these have been varyingly effective in preventing the practice or significantly accelerating its abandonment. The success of programmatic interventions to address FGM/C has also been variable. One possible reason for the limited success of these initiatives is the neglect of the collectively held social norms underpinning the practice’s continuation. This study, conducted in 30 villages in Somaliland, aimed to investigate: 1) if the norms associated with FGM/C are …