Feminist and youth-led approaches to transforming social and gender norms in South and South-East Asia

Current challenges in approaches to understand and shift social norms relate to the absence of a methodology guided by an ethical framework that recognises the power dynamics inherent in social norms research and intervention design. This is particularly the case for social and gender norms related to sexual reproductive health rights, child marriage, harassment in public places, gender-based violence, unpaid care work, and gendered work roles. This article draws on the experiences of social norms research undertaken by Oxfam and partners in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Pakistan that sought to embed a feminist and participatory approach throughout the research cycle. In particular, it draws on lessons learned from a key component of a wider feminist participatory methodology, Oxfam's Social Norms Diagnostic Tool, developed in 2017, adapted and implemented in four different countries.