Skip to main content
Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Visible Pregnancy, Invisible HIV: How Social Norms Shape Adolescents Protection Choice in Kenya and Nigeria Cover

Visible Pregnancy, Invisible HIV: How Social Norms Shape Adolescents Protection Choice in Kenya and Nigeria

Open Access
|Jan 2026

References

  1. UNAIDS. HIV and adolescent girls and young women ‑ Thematic briefing note (2024 global AIDS update: The urgency of now). Published 2024. Accessed November 22, 2025. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2024/2024-unaids-global-aids-update-adolescent-girls-young-women.
  2. Nwachinemere OL, Nyegenye S, Mwesigwa A, et al. Trends in HIV‑related knowledge, behaviors and determinants of HIV testing among adolescent women aged 15–24 in Nigeria. Trop Med Health. 2025;53(1):79. doi:10.1186/s41182-025-00737-1.
  3. UNICEF. Health & HIV (Nigeria). UNICEF Nigeria; Published 2022. Accessed November 22, 2025. https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/health-hiv.
  4. Miller LE, Zamudio‑Haas S, Otieno B, et al. “We don’t fear HIV. We just fear walking around pregnant.”: A qualitative analysis of adolescent sexuality and pregnancy stigma in informal settlements in Kisumu, Kenya. Stud Fam Plann. 2021;52(4):557570. doi:10.1111/sifp.12178.
  5. CARE. Gender Norms Learning Agenda: Multi‑sector norms diagnosis in Kenya and Nigeria. CARE Nigeria. Published 2024. Accessed October 23, 2025. https://carenigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Gender-Norms-Learning-Agenda-Final-Report.pdf.
  6. Bicchieri C. The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms. Cambridge University Press; 2006.
  7. Ouma L, Bozkurt B, Chanley J, et al. A cross‑country qualitative study on contraceptive method mix: Contraceptive decision‑making among youth. Reprod Health. 2021;18(1):105. doi:10.1186/s12978-021-01160-5.
  8. Jemisenia JO, Asogwa US, Adejoh A, Melugbo DU, Owoeye G. Taking the maximum risks for satisfaction: Understanding the process of condom discontinuation among National Youth Service Corps’ members in Nigeria. Int J Sex Health. 2021;33(2):193209. doi:10.1080/19317611.2021.1880515.
  9. Daniel AK, Casmir E, Oluoch L, et al. “I was just concerned about getting pregnant”: Attitudes toward pregnancy and contraceptive use among adolescent girls and young women in Thika, Kenya. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023;23:493. doi:10.1186/s12884-023-05802-3.
  10. Sanchez EK, McGuire C, Calhoun LM, Hainsworth G, Speizer IS. Influences on contraceptive method choice among adolescent women across urban centers in Nigeria: A qualitative study. Contracept Reprod Med. 2021;6(1):8. doi:10.1186/s40834-020-00146-1.
  11. Larson E, Bitère C, Mireri J, Ifenna RJ, Sprinkel A, McLarnon C. The influence of family planning‑related social norms on the health and well‑being of adolescent girls and young women in Kenya and Nigeria. Panel presented at: International Conference on Family Planning. Bogotá, Colombia: 2025. https://icfp2025.dryfta.com/program-schedule/program/detail/485/unwritten-rules-unseen-barriers-how-social-norms-influence-family-planning-outcomes-for-adolescent-girls-and-young-women.
  12. Taiwo MO, Oyekenu O, Hussaini R. Understanding how social norms influence access to and utilization of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Northern Nigeria. Front Sociol. 2023;8:865499. doi:10.3389/fsoc.2023.865499.
  13. Machoka BN, Kabiru CW, Ajayi AI. “My father insisted that I have the baby but not in his house”: Adolescent pregnancy, social exclusion and (dis)empowerment of girls in an urban informal settlement in Kenya. PLoS Glob Public Health. 2024;4(9):e0003742. doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0003742.
  14. Mukabana S, Abuya B, Kabiru CW, Ajayi AI. Poverty, childcare responsibilities, and stigma hinder adolescent mothers from returning to school in a low‑income urban informal settlement in Kenya. PLoS One. 2024;19(7):e0307532. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0307532.
  15. Mutea L, Ontiri S, Kadiri F, Michielesen K, Gichangi P. Access to information and use of adolescent sexual reproductive health services: Qualitative exploration of barriers and facilitators in Kisumu and Kakamega, Kenya. PLoS One. 2020;15(11):e0241985. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241985.
  16. Admassu M, Nöstlinger C, Hensen B. Barriers to PrEP use and adherence among adolescent girls and young women in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa: A scoping review. BMC Womens Health. 2024;24(1):665. doi:10.1186/s12905-024-03516-y.
  17. Embleton L, Logie CH, Ngure K, et al. Intersectional stigma and implementation of HIV prevention and treatment services for adolescents living with and at risk for HIV: Opportunities for improvement in the HIV continuum in sub‑Saharan Africa. AIDS Behav. 2023;27(Suppl 1):162184. doi:10.1007/s10461-022-03793-4.
  18. Adhiambo HF, Ngayo M, Kwena Z. Preferences for accessing sexual and reproductive health services among adolescents and young adults living with HIV/AIDS in Western Kenya: A qualitative study. PLoS One. 2022;17(11):e0277467. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0277467.
  19. Narasimhan M, Yeh PT, Haberlen S, Warren CE, Kennedy CE. Integration of HIV testing services into family planning services: A systematic review. Reprod Health. 2019;16(Suppl 1):61. doi:10.1186/s12978-019-0714-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.5092 | Journal eISSN: 2214-9996
Language: English
Submitted on: Nov 23, 2025
Accepted on: Dec 15, 2025
Published on: Jan 12, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2026 Cassange Bitère, Raphael Joshua Ifenna, Hilawit Gebrehanna, Dorcas Nyasani Ombasa, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.