
Health
Gendered social norms affect the health and well-being of women and men, girls and boys in many ways, from exposure to health risks to the prioritisation of health needs and the impact on access to health care. Norms on mobility and exercising in public spaces, for example, can undermine opportunities for girls and women to improve their own health.
Norms that require men and boys to appear strong and demonstrate masculine behaviour can leave them reluctant to seek help for physical or mental health problems. Norms also influence investment in health priorities and prevention, such as reducing maternal mortality or sexually transmitted diseases.
The public health community has spearheaded a growing recognition of the impact of norms on health, and the use of social norm change strategies to change behaviour to support of better health outcomes. Resources on these pages show how gendered social norms affect health and the potential of social norm change strategies to improve health. They cover sexual and reproductive health, mental health, nutrition, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and other gendered health risks that affect adolescents and young people in particular.
ALIGN Guide

View ALIGN's in-depth guide to gender norms, health and wellbeing.
ALIGN event
Public event

Organised by: ALIGN
Toolkit
1 December 2019

Published by: Rings
Journal article
30 May 2019

Published by: The Lancet
Blog
2 June 2019

Published by: ALIGN
Bibliography
13 May 2019

Published by: ALIGN
Blog
28 March 2019

Published by: ALIGN
Health content from the ALIGN community
Case study
23 October 2019

Published by: The Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change
Case study
11 October 2019

Published by: The Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change
Case study
13 September 2019

Published by: The Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change
Briefing paper
7 August 2019

Published by: ALIGN, ARI
Journal article
18 July 2019

Published by: Reproductive Health Journal
Report
1 June 2019

Published by: USAID, Passages