Inger Lise Hansen (born 1 September 1981) is a Norwegian politician and a member of the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(KRF). A former leader of the

Youth of the Christian People's Party The Young Christian Democrats (Norway) (, KrFU) is the youth league of the Christian Democratic Party () in Norway, and was founded in 1933. The current leader of KrFU is Hadle Rasmus Bjuland. The organisation currently has approximately 2,000 me ...

(KRFU) from 2005 to 2007, Hansen was the second Deputy Leader of the party until 2011.

Early and personal life

Hansen was born in

Åsgårdstrand Åsgårdstrand (historically spelled ''Aasgaardstrand'') is a small port List of towns and cities in Norway, town in both Horten Municipality, Horten and Tønsberg Municipality, Tønsberg municipalities in Vestfold county, Norway. The town is loc ...

in Vestfold county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, but later relocated to the capital of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

to pursue an education and career. A graduate of the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, Hansen obtains a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in international studies concerning

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

and

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

history. She is married to David Hansen, a fellow member of the Christian Democratic Party, with whom she has one child.

Political career

Hansen's political career began in the

(KRFU), the youth wing of the much greater

(KRF). After her future husband stepped down as leader of the KRFU in 2002, Hansen was elected deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from the Vestfold constituency, and served from 2001 to 2005. A young and active member at the time, she was promoted to leader of the party's youth wing, the KRFU, with her predecessor Per Steinar Osmundnes being elected to Parliament later that year. In 2007, Hansen was appointed to second Deputy Leader by Chairman

Dagfinn Høybråten Dagfinn Høybråten (born 2 December 1957) is a Norwegian politician. He was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party 2004–2011. He was also Parliamentary leader from 2005 when he was elected as Member of Parliament representing Rogaland. ...

, and was coined as one of the rising stars within the Christian Democratic Party. She was re-elected to that position at the party congress in early 2009. Later that same year, Hansen competed in the Vestfold constituency during Norwegian parliamentary election for a seat in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, but due to strong competition from the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

and the Progress Party, Hansen was not elected. However, she continues to serve as second Deputy Leader of the KRF.

Remarks concerning party policies

In January 2010, Hansen became the subject of much media attention, criticism, praise and controversy when she called for a strong

liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...

in the party's policies. In an interview for the national newspaper ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'', Hansen argued that KRF's "unquestionable support" towards

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and their actions in the Middle East should change rapidly. As such she condemned the construction of the

Israeli West Bank barrier The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...

alongside the city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, criticised plans to move the Norwegian Embassy in Israel to the occupied territories that belong to the

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

and questioned if Norway should cut off financial support if an agreement between the two nations is not reached. Hansen also criticised the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

direction of the party, and claimed that they should support

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights,

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and Norway to enter the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. She also optioned for a more liberal attitude towards

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and that members of the party should not all be

Christian fundamentalists Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...

. Hansen's remarks were later published by other newspapers as a direct criticism of Christian Democratic Party leader

and the rest of the conservative leadership, whom she blamed for the recent election polls that seem to be the worst in the party's history since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The incident was described as "shocking" and "astonishing" by the media and was even coined as a possible downfall for the

. In the aftermath, Hansen was met with strong criticism from the party leadership, while some political commentators believed she had destroyed her career. However, the controversy was well received by many as well, with Hansen being recognized as a leading member of the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

wing that could shape a new and modern Christian Democratic Party. This led to a formal invitation from members of the Conservative Party to join them as well, which Hansen chose not to comment on. Overall, the incident boosted Hansen's popularity amongst the population, but also weakened her relations with the party leadership after the party itself fell below the 4%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

Political views

Christianity and LGBT rights

Inger Lise Hansen's political views are built on

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

and

Christian conservative Conservative Christianity, also known as conservative theology, theological conservatism, traditional Christianity, or biblical orthodoxy is a grouping of overlapping and denominationally diverse theological movements within Christianity that se ...

values. However, she has called for a new era in the party's social policies, especially regarding

rights. Hansen supports gay couples to live together and favors

s and gay adoption rights. Hansen has further criticised the party leadership's status on these issues, and as such she has been recognised as a leading member of the party's more

and modern wing.

Abortion

Hansen does not favor

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

unless in cases of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

or if the mother's life is at risk. This is a central policy in the ideology of the Christian Democratic Party (KRF), and as such Hansen has identified herself as

Pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

Norway and the European Union

Hansen supports Norwegian membership in the

, despite the fact that the Christian Democratic Party officially opposes it. Hansen, however, feels that the subject has never been properly discussed within the party, and as such is open for Norway to obtain membership due to the fact that Norway will benefit from the international relationship both financially and in accordance with peace and stability. She is also convinced that another

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

must take place though in order to fully close the chapter and decide on the controversial political issue.

Israel

In contradiction to the

's policies, Hansen has opted for a more negative attitude towards the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

such as condemning the construction of the

. She has also criticised plans to move the Norwegian Embassy to these occupied territories where

reside, and has suggested that Norway should cut off financial support to Israel unless a peace agreement is reached with the Palestinians.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20100406210105/http://www.krf.no/ikbViewer/page/krf/politikk/english *http://www.side2.no/underholdning/article2863412.ece *https://web.archive.org/web/20100202235036/http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3493759.ece *http://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/article2837301.ece {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Inger Lise 1981 births Living people Norwegian women in politics Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian Pentecostals