Shkurtan Hasanpapaj was one of the virgins Elvira Dones talked to. Under Albania's Stalinist regime, she was Communist Party secretary for the mountainous region where she used to live.

The concept of the "sworn virgin" arose as women aspired to do men's work in a traditional male-dominated society.

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In northern Albania, the privileges of playing an equal role in society, getting a job and owning property were only exchanged if women swore a public oath never to marry or have children.

"They are beautiful men..." Dones explained to Outlook presenter Sarah Mukherjee, "You could not tell when you see them at the very beginning.

"Their voices now are lower and their body language is just like a man's... And then you start talking to them and you discover that there is still something womanish about them."

30 or 40 sworn virgins still live in Albania and in general they are treated with great respect.

"They have gained the status of being man so they have gained power," said Dones, "They have won the respect of the man. They have won the respect of the village.

"They are obeyed too by the rest of the men - so they are comfortable. Most of them are comfortable."

Dones grew up under the communist dictatorship in Albania and became fascinated in the sworn virgins in the communities in the north of the country.

If she didn't want that marriage, the only way out so as not to dishonour the family and not to disobey the word of her father was to say 'No, I'm going to become a man and I will take the oath of eternal virginity.

But she was unable to travel there because internal travel wasn't permitted and the only transport her family owned was an old Chinese bicycle.

So it wasn't until 20 years later, after she'd become established as a journalist in Switzerland, that she went in search of them - and came across one when she asked for directions to a village.

"I was quite stunned," she said, "Because I couldn't detect anything womanish in her."

Dones explained that she subsequently found out that heavy drinking and manly activity make the women appear more like men over time.

The tradition is over 500 years old and there are apparently many reasons why women choose to become men.

If a man had no male heir for example, he might have chosen one of his daughters to take on the male role.

And it was also a way for a woman to get out of a promised marriage.

"If she didn't want that marriage," said Dones, "the only way out so as not to dishonour the family and not to disobey the word of her father was to say 'no, I'm going to become a man and I will take the oath of eternal virginity.'"

Once the oath has been taken, it cannot be rescinded - but, of the 12 women that Dones spoke to for her documentary, only one regretted her decision to take the oath.

"From their point of view they have lost something," said Dones, "But they have gained something else which is the respect of all the men.

"I talked to the men and they respect deeply these women."

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