Abstract
PurposeChild marriages and unions can infringe upon adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). Interventions increasingly promote strategies to transform social norms or foster the agency of adolescent girls. Recent empirical studies call for further understanding of how social norms and agency interact in ways that influence these practices, especially in contexts where girls' agency is central. MethodsA secondary cross-case analysis of three qualitative studies (in Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras) was conducted to inform the investigation of how norms and agency may relate in sustaining or mitigating child marriage. ResultsSocial norms dictating how girls/young women and how men should act indirectly led to child marriages and unions. The data showed that (1) social norms regulated girls' acceptable actions and contributed to their exercise of “oppositional” agency; (2) social norms promoted girls' “accommodating” agency; and (3) girls exercised “transformative” agency to resist harmful social norms. ConclusionsResearch should advance frameworks to conceptualize how social norms interact with agency in nuanced and context-specific ways. Practitioners should encourage equitable decision-making; offer confidential, adolescent-friendly AYSRH services; and address the social norms of parents, men and boys, and community members.
Highlights
Child marriages and unions can infringe upon adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH)
Latin American and Caribbean settings, this article shows that research design and practice can incorporate understandings about the interactions of social norms and agency and foster transformative kinds of agency that support AYSRH
Based on our empirical studies, we argue that social norms indirectly underpin child marriages and unions: favoring patriarchy, they enforce the subordination of girls and the control of their sexuality, mobility, and relationships, rather than directly supporting child marriage
Summary
Child marriages and unions can infringe upon adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). Interventions increasingly promote strategies to transform social norms or foster the agency of adolescent girls. Recent empirical studies call for further understanding of how social norms and agency interact in ways that influence these practices, especially in contexts where girls’ agency is central. Results: Social norms dictating how girls/young women and how men should act indirectly led to child marriages and unions. Latin American and Caribbean settings, this article shows that research design and practice can incorporate understandings about the interactions of social norms and agency and foster transformative kinds of agency that support AYSRH. AYSRH alongside equitable relationships shapes formative experiences that begin in childhood and adolescence and continue throughout the life course
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