Women in Albania…living as men – Their number is diminishing but a good handful of elderly women several in their late 70s still live on in northern Albania. These ‘sworn virgins’ each took a personal vow of celibacy in order to preserve their position as the head of household, maintaining the same level of control and power over their own households and communities as the next man. By taking the oath of virginity these women enjoy rights usually available only to men: the right to own a weapon, move about freely, even pray in the mosque alongside men.