Balkan sworn virgins (Albanian: burrnesha or virgjnesha) are women who take a vow of chastity and wear male clothing in order to live as men in the patriarchal northern Albanian society. To a lesser extent, the practice exists, or has existed, in other parts of the western Balkans, including Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Dalmatian hinterland (Croatia) and Bosnia. National Geographic's Taboo estimated that there are fewer than 102 sworn virgins in the world.