Freyja Haraldsdóttir
Icelandic politician and disability rights activist.
Freyja Haraldsdóttir, born 27 June 1986 in Reykjavík, is an Icelandic politician and disability rights activist. She has osteogenesis imperfecta. Her family relocated to Nelson, New Zealand in 1997, and she attended school in nearby Richmond. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in social pedagogy and a Master of Arts with a gender studies thesis, both from the University of Iceland. In 2010, she was elected to the Icelandic Constitutional Assembly. Three years later, she became a deputy Member of Parliament for the Althing.
Quick Facts
- Constituency
- Southwest
- Office
- Member of the Althing
- Took office
- 2013
- Left office
- 2015
- Born
- 27 June 1986
- Birthplace
- Reykjavík, Iceland
- Party
- Bright Future
Facts from the source article.
Career
Freyja Haraldsdóttir was born in Reykjavík on 27 June 1986 with osteogenesis imperfecta. Her family moved to Nelson, New Zealand in 1997, and she attended school in nearby Richmond. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in social pedagogy and later a Master of Arts with a gender studies thesis, both from the University of Iceland. Before entering politics, she campaigned for personal assistants for disabled people. A meeting with former Bright Future member Gudmundur Steingrimsson, who led a committee relevant to her work, persuaded her to run for office. She won a seat in the Icelandic Constitutional Assembly in 2010 and became Steingrimsson’s deputy in the Althing in 2013. She served as vice president for the Southwest Constituency from 2013 to 2015. From 2010 to 2014, she directed the Independent Living Centre. After that, she co-founded Tabú, a company focused on creating safe spaces for disabled women in Iceland. In 2018, after leaving politics, she faced insults and reported “seal noises” from MPs caught on tape at a bar.
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