The first women's association in Albania was founded in 1909.[5] Albanian women from the northern Gheg region resided within a conservative[6] and patriarchal society. In such a traditional society, the women had subordinate roles in Gheg communities that believe in "male predominance". This is despite the arrival of democracy and the adoption of a free market economy in Albania, after the period under the communist Party of Labour.[7] Traditional Gheg Albanian culture was based on the 500-year-old Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, a traditional Gheg code of conduct, where the main role of women was to take care of the children and to take care of the home.[6]