The last bastion of ‘sworn virgins’ – AlbaniaSHKODRA, Albania: At the age of 16, living in a remote village in northern Albania, Shkurta Hasanpapaj faced being forced into marriage. For British anthropologist Antonia Young, author of a book on sworn virgins, sexuality had nothing to do with the custom. “What better love is there than that?”Both these sworn virgins firmly reject homosexuality. The Kanun, which also lays out the rules for the nation’s notorious blood feuds, allows two ways to become a “virgjinesha”, as sworn virgins are called in Albanian. Sworn virgins win the right to hold a job, smoke, knock back shots of fiery raki liquor at the bar, wear trousers and even make family decisions.

Source: Manila Times August 03, 2016 04:07 UTC