Social Norm Mobility Index
RCTClinical Trial
Traditional religious institutions and caste hierarchies enforce social restrictions on women's physical mobility, speech, and public interactions, restricting economic autonomy.
Picture this
Think of societal rules as invisible fences placed around different groups. Some groups face high fences that keep individuals inside the home, while others face lower fences allowing freer movement; evaluating specific daily behaviors quantifies how high these social fences are for each demographic group.
What the evidence says
Index measurements established that Muslim women faced the most severe mobility restrictions, followed by upper-caste Hindu women, whereas scheduled-caste Hindu women faced the least severe restrictions. Business training with peer support was most effective among women facing severe social restrictions.
- Who was studied
- N = 636 women aged 18–50 across Muslim, upper-caste Hindu, and scheduled-caste Hindu groups in Ahmedabad, India.
- How
- Quantitative indexing across five behavioral dimensions: ability to socialize alone, face-veiling requirements, speaking directly to elders, leaving the house or neighborhood alone, and ability to remarry.
What to do
Evaluate demographic-specific social restriction indices prior to program implementation to target peer-supported empowerment mechanisms to the most socially constrained groups.
From the source
"According to this index, Muslim women faced the most severe restrictions, followed by upper-caste women. Scheduled-caste women faced the least severe restrictions."
Business Training for Women in Ahmedabad India.pdf