In a god-fearing culture called the Paranoimos, each adult woman has a personal temple where she prays. The temples differ in that each woman puts symbols of her devotion in her temple hut. If woman A enters woman B's hut, then the Paranoimos believe that B's hut is "weakened" and B's prayers will lose their force, whereas A's will gain power.

For this reason, if a woman suspects that another woman has entered her hut, then she is duty-bound to strike the intruder with a ritual stick. Suspicion comes from accusations by third parties, never from direct observation. Note that several women might accuse someone of intruding.

This article was originally published with the title Privacy Taboos.

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