Maria Hansen

• Hansen, Maria (2026). Seksuelt samtykke: mellom feministisk omsorgsetikk og strafferettslogikk. Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. ISSN 0809-6341. 50(1), p. 3–16. doi: 10.18261/tfk.50.1.2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne artikkelen, som handler om samtykkebegrepet i den strafferettslige definisjonen av voldtekt, undersøker jeg to ulike logikker som virker å ligge til grunn for den norske samtykkepolemikken. Den ene er en forståelse av samtykke som virker å være formet av en liberalistisk, rettslig logikk, som gjør samtykke til noe binært. Den andre er en forståelse av samtykke som en pågående etisk praksis, en forståelse som kan knyttes til feministisk omsorgsetikk. Ved å først redegjøre for hvorfor samtykke ble et feministisk anliggende, og deretter undersøke noen teoretiske implikasjoner av å slå sammen disse to ulike logikkene, argumenterer jeg for at dersom målet er å fremme god seksuell etikk, er samtykke et tvetydig og sløvt verktøy. Jeg foreslår derfor at det er viktigere å snakke om hvordan sex blir «god», eller hvordan den kan bli voldtekt, enn om at den må være samtykkende for ikke å være straffbar.

• Hansen, Maria (2024). Om utbrenthet og akademiske ambisjoner, eller frykt og selvforakt i grådige institusjoner. In Houge, Anette Bringedal & Kruse, Anja Emilie (Ed.), Etisk ubehag. En ærlig lærebok om kvalitativ forskning på sensitive temaer. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215068558. p. 161–175. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2023). Reconfiguring the relationship between the ‘good (hetero)sexual subject’ and the grey area between sex and rape. Sexualities. ISSN 1363-4607. doi: 10.1177/13634607231200551. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Though many advocates argue that ‘rape is rape’, empirical research demonstrates that many incidents and experiences are ambiguous. This article explores how heterosexual norms play into the construction of a grey area between ‘just sex’ and rape. Based on an analysis of 30 interviews with Norwegian men and women about alcohol-related heterosexual encounters, the article explores how such encounters can become ambiguous. There is a mutually constitutive relationship between what is ‘normal’ and what is not. Simultaneously, heterosexuality and sexual norms are fluid, contextual and constantly developing, so when norms regulating ‘normal’ sex shift, transgressions from these norms probably do as well. By using Gavey’s (2005) model of normative heterosexuality as a scaffold that supports rape culture as a heuristic device, I examine these stories of alcohol-related heterosexual encounters to investigate how norms about heterosexual sex are involved in how people constitute themselves as ‘good sexual subjects’ today. Based on these findings, I discuss how the pathway to becoming a good sexual subject may simultaneously lead into murky and ambiguous territory.

• Hansen, Maria; Stefansen, Kari & Skilbrei, May-Len (2020). Non-reporting of sexual violence as action: acts, selves, futures in the making. Nordic Journal of Criminology. ISSN 2578-983X. doi: 10.1080/2578983X.2020.1867401. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Individual, cultural and structural barriers exist in reporting rape to the police. Our study’s context is Norway, where reporting is more accepted than before and is even encouraged. Still, few who experience rape report the incident. Based on qualitative interviews we examine how women who refrain from reporting rapes give their choice meaning. We draw from Boltanski and Thévenot’s version of cultural sociology, especially the idea that meaning-making in concrete situations relates to wider ‘regimes of justification’: particular framings that render choices and interpretations intelligible. The aftermath of rape leaves women with having to balance their own and others’ needs and expectations. In talking about the rape and how they afterwards manoeuvre to reconcile conflicting norms and needs, the women activate two different regimes of justification; an instrumental and an ontological. They negotiate between expectations set out in an instrumental regime of justification, focusing on acts and actions, and a more ontological regime of justification, wherein focus lies on their sense of self and future identities. They position themselves as ‘evolving selves’, a position from where they are able to prevent further ruptures by deploying a developmental logic rather than answering the call to ‘do the right thing’ and report.

• Stefansen, Kari; Solstad, Gerd Marie; Strandbu, Åse & Hansen, Maria Louise (2019). Young athletes’ perceptions of coach-athlete sexual relationships: Engaging with competing ethics. Sociology of Sport Journal. ISSN 0741-1235. 36(4), p. 339–346. doi: 10.1123/ssj.2019-0007. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we use data from focus group interviews with young athletes to explore their thinking about coach-athlete sexual relationships (CASRs). Our aim is to further the understanding of the ambivalence surrounding CASRs in the sports field, which are simultaneously viewed as ethically problematic and acceptable – at least when they involve high-profile adult athletes. Inspired by Swidler’s toolkit approach to culture, we analyse how athletes understand and justify CASRs. We found that three different ethics were activated in the interviews: the safeguarding, love, and athletic-performance ethics. We discuss how these ethics are linked to different underlying ‘imaginaries’, or cultural frames, about the meaning of sport in society and offer thoughts on how the results can inform sporting organisations’ future prevention efforts.

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• Hol, Maud & Hansen, Maria (2026). «God sex» eller «voldtekt». [Internet]. Universitetet i Oslo. doi: https:/www.uio.no/forskning/forskningsnytt/artikler/2026/god-sex-eller-voldtekt.html. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2025). Voldtok jeg deg nå? Heteroseksuelle menn, uforpliktende sex og et kjønnet voldtektsbegrep. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2025). Who becomes 'rapeable'? Heterosexual men, casual sex and the gendered legibility of rape in a liberal sexual context. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2025). Om utbrenthet og akademiske ambisjoner. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2025). Fyllesex på godt og vondt. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2025). Om utbrenthet og akademiske ambisjoner. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria (2025). Fyllesex på godt og vondt: Ambivalens etter sex og voldtekt. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Presentasjon av doktorgradsavhandling

• Hansen, Maria (2025). Fyllesex på godt og vondt: Ambivalens etter sex og voldtekt. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Presentasjon av doktorgradsavhandling

• Houge, Anette Bringedal; Kruse, Anja Emilie & Hansen, Maria (2025). Etisk ubehag i kvalitativ forskning​. Full text in Research Archive
• Hansen, Maria; Stefansen, Kari & Skilbrei, May-Len (2022). The moral burden of rape reporting. NSFK blog. Full text in Research Archive
• Helseth, Hannah; Bergman, Solveig; Anti, Kaisa Sofie; Dimpas, Anne Lene Turi; Bals, Margrete J & Hansen, Maria [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). «Det som skjer med landskapet, skjer med en sjøl» – om ytre og indre vold i reindriftssamiske samfunn. Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress. ISSN 9788281224025. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Rapporten undersøker vold og overgrep i reindriftssamiske samfunn. Et sentralt bakteppe for studien er Sannhets- og forsoningskommisjonens rapport (2023) som har vist fram sosiale, politiske og psykologiske omkostninger av assimilerings- og fornorskningspolitikken. Studien viser at forskning på vold og krenkelser i samiske samfunn bør ta innover seg den spesifikke historiske konteksten. Studien er finansiert av Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet. Den har blitt gjennomført på initiativ fra Norske reindriftssamers landsforbund (NRL) og i dialog med Sametinget og NRL. Prosjektet har blitt gjennomført av Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress (NKVTS) og Samisk nasjonal kompetansetjeneste – psykisk helsevern og rus (SANKS) i tett samarbeid. Funnene baserer seg på analyser av 17 individuelle intervju og 9 deltakere i tre fokusgruppeintervju som har bakgrunn i samisk reindrift i den norske delen av Sápmi. I tillegg har det blitt analysert intervju med 8 fagpersoner og/ eller hjelpere som enten har reindriftssamisk bakgrunn eller jobber oppimot reindriftssamiske samfunn. Det er en overvekt av kvinner i datamaterialet og et flertall kommer fra nordsamisk område, mens noen har sørsamisk bakgrunn. Studien må ses på som utforskende og eksplorerende på minst to måter, for det første er det informantene som selv definerer hva de anser som vold og overgrep som gjør at vi belyser en bredde av ulike erfaringer. For det andre, beskriver vi hvordan sammenhengen mellom ulike former for vold og krenkelser forstås blant reindriftssamer, særlig hvilken betydning assimilerings- og fornorskningspolitikken har hatt. Disse sammenhengene bør utforskes mer både i reindriftssamiske samfunn og blant andre samiske grupper, men denne studien kan er en begynnelse. Dette er en av de første studiene som bygger på intervjumateriale samlet inn på samisk om opplevelser av vold og krenkelser. Flere av studiens informanter forteller om voldserfaringer for første gang, blant annet forteller en eldre mann om opplevelser om å være utsatt for vold som barn og være vitne til fysisk vold av moren. Hans åpenhet er betegnende for det første av fire hovedfunn i denne rapporten.

• Hansen, Maria; Skilbrei, May-Len & Skjelsbæk, Inger (2025). After sex: Exploring ambiguity in the aftermath of sex and rape. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This thesis examines ambiguity in the aftermath of casual (hetero)sex and rape. In the dominant Norwegian narrative about rape and sexual ethics, what distinguish ‘good’ sex from rape is the presence or absence of consent. Sex should be consensual, and sex without consent is considered rape. This narrative is designed to be pedagogical in its simplicity. However, many individuals find it difficult to label their own experiences of unwanted sex as rape. One way to understand this ambivalence and ambiguity is to examine the relationship between sex and self. What one does sexually—what one is attracted to, enjoys, accepts, and seeks—is often tied to one's sense of self, and influence how one is perceived by others. Thus, sex is a potentially transformative act, where sexual experiences can alter both personal and others' perceptions of oneself. This potential is particularly pronounced when sex does not proceed as intended, or when it goes wrong. Ambivalence and ‘the Grey Area’ The thesis delves into the so-called ‘grey area’ between sex and rape. This grey area encompasses sexual encounters that fit both, neither, or somehow occupy both categories of "sex" and "rape." To investigate how sex sometimes straddles these two categories, the thesis is based on 30 qualitative interviews with women (19) and men (11) about rape, as well as unwanted and confusing experiences with casual, alcohol-related casual sex. From these interviews, it appears that part of what contributes to ambivalence is the narrative that "sex without consent is rape,” which simplifies the relationship between sex and rape. Participants in this study find their experiences to be far more complex and ambiguous than the dominant narrative allows. What Happened, and Who Do I Become? The participants in this study largely relate their ambivalence and confusion not to whether their experiences involved consent or not, but to the context in which these experiences occurred and the potential consequences they may have for their lives. One of the main arguments of the thesis is that the frameworks, expectations, and personal perceptions of what is acceptable or unacceptable are shaped by one’s environment, who one is with, what one believes others will think, and the implications that sex may have for one's future. Consequently, participants’ ambivalence and confusion can be more readily understood in light of what happened prior to the unwanted sex, what they wanted to happen, and what they anticipate will happen afterward, rather than what transpired in the moment. Sex or Rape, Clarity or Confusion? When rape is defined as sex without consent, and when consent simultaneously constitutes the foundation of ‘good’ sex, sexual ethics and criminal law become intertwined. Operating with a clear-cut understanding of the relationship between sex and rape easily forces ambiguous experiences into one of two respective categories. An ambivalent experience is either rendered unambiguously ‘good’ or labeled as rape. If it is deemed ‘good,’ there is little room for doubt or confusion afterward. If classified as rape, the experience is characterized as ‘bad,’ which quickly triggers a cascade of expectations and obligations that can affect one’s personal life and foreseeable future. Thus, consent—intended to create clarity and clear distinctions—can contribute to further confusion and mess, as the dominant narrative often leaves little space for the complexities of lived life and experience.

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