Dec 10, (BBC/GNA) – Only a dozen “sworn virgins” are left in the world, as an ancient Balkan tradition where women live as men dies out.
“Albania was a man’s world, the only way to survive was to become one,” says Gjystina Grishaj.
As a 23-year-old woman living in the mountains of north Albania, she made a decision that would change her life.
She swore a vow of celibacy and promised to live the rest of her life as a man.
Gjystina’s family have lived in the Malësi e Madhe region of Lëpushë for more than a century. A valley deeply nestled between craggy mountains, it is one of the few areas where the burrnesha tradition still exists: a centuries old practise in which women swear an oath to village elders, and live as men.
These women are known as the burrneshat, or sworn virgins.
“There are many unmarried people in the world but they are not burrneshat. A burrnesha is dedicated only to her family, to work, to live, to preserve her purity,” says Gjystina, now aged 57.
For many women born in earlier times, exchanging their sexual, reproductive and social identities was a way to enjoy freedoms only men could experience.
Becoming a burrnesha allowed women to dress as men, to act as head of the household, to move freely in social situations, and to take on work traditionally open only to men.
As a sporty, active young woman, Gjystina – or Duni, as she is known to those closest to her – was determined to be independent. She never imagined a traditional life for herself of marriage, housework, wearing dresses…
Instead, following the death of her father she decided to become a sworn virgin, in order to lead the family and be able to take on work to support them financially.
“We were extremely poor… my father died, and my mother had six children, so in order to make it easier for her, I decided to become a burrnesha and to work hard,” she says.
Gjystina lives in a remote village; mobile phone reception is sparse at best, and harsh winters mean the road to Lepushe is often blocked with snow and the electricity is cut off.
She runs a guest house, works the land and tends to her animals.
As a burrnesha and head of the household, she also practises the art of medicinal herbs to make healing teas and oils, a skill inherited from her father.
“He cared a lot about medicinal herbs and passed the lessons on to me. And I want my niece Valerjana to inherit this practice, even though she has chosen another path,” says Duni.
“Today, no one tries to become a sworn virgin,” says Valerjana Grishaj. “Young girls are not even thinking about becoming sworn virgins. I’m a real example of that.”
Growing up alongside her aunt in Lepushe, Valerjana found that the options for women in the area were minimal, with an expectation to marry young.
“A moment I always remember when I was in sixth grade of primary school. A friend of mine was in the ninth grade and she was getting engaged. She was only 14,” she recalls.
“She told me that her husband would not permit her to continue her studies and that she needed to listen to her husband, stay with him and obey him.”
Rather than either marrying young or becoming a sworn virgin, Valerjana moved out of the family home aged 16 to study theatre directing and photography in Albania’s capital city, Tirana.
“In Tirana, girls and women have more advantages and are more emancipated. While in the village the situation, even now, is still a disaster,” she says.
Although there are no exact figures, it is estimated that there are only 12 burrneshat remaining in Northern Albania and Kosovo. Since the fall of Communism in the 1990s, Albania has seen societal changes which mean more rights for women.
Valerjana sees it as a positive that the burrnesha tradition is dying out.
“Today we girls don’t have to fight to become men,” she says. “We have to fight for equal rights, but not by becoming men”.
In 2019, women’s rights activist Rea Nepravishta protested at the International Women’s Day events in Tirana.
She took to the streets with a large sign emblazoned with the word “burrnesha” which had been struck through with a large red cross, and the words “strong women” written below it.
“In the Albanian language, when we want to describe a woman as a strong woman, we use the term ‘burrnesha’,” she says.
“It is a word made up of two parts, ‘Burre’ means man… We shouldn’t refer to men to show the strength of women.”
Rea believes the country is on the way to opening up, and has taken “many steps forward in a short period of time”.
According to UN Women, women’s participation in Albania’s political and economic decision-making has progressed recently with improvements in electoral codes and processes, even if it still remains limited, and the pay gap has not been properly addressed. By 2017, women made up 23% of members of parliament, and 35% of local counsellors.
But women’s rights have some way to go.
“Sexism, gender stereotypes… and gender-based violence is unfortunately still very widespread in Albania,” Rea says.
Data from UN Women suggests that almost 60% of Albanian women aged 15-49 have experienced domestic violence. And the UN Treaty Body Database reveals that only eight per cent of women own land, and remain marginalised in matters of inheritance.
GNA/ Credit: BBC