Disguised Work -- David Graeber, village wives - Debian Outreachy internships
David Graeber's book Debt: The First 5000 Years takes a fascinating look at obligations between people and communities in many different cultures.
One of the most colourful stories is in Chapter 6, under the title Games with Sex and Death
She waits for an opportune moment and slips off at night to an enemy village, where she asks for sanctuary. This is always possible: all villages have their traditional enemies. Neither would an enemy village refuse a woman who came to them in such a situation. They would immediately declare her "wife of the village," who all men living there would then be obliged to protect.
When a whole group of Albanian women were trafficked to DebConf19 and seated with former Debian leader Chris Lamb for the dinner, why did nobody else object or express jealousy?
Graeber's book goes on, explaining how young men acquire wives in communal organizations.