The city of Paris has been fined for appointing a large number of women to positions

The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo was fined 90 thousand euros for violating the rules of gender equality. The reason for such a decision is the appointment of too many women in leadership positions in the city government, writes The Wall Street Journal.

The fine was imposed because the law was violated, according to which the proportion of men and women in leadership positions should be at least 60% and 40%, or ideally equal. The audit revealed that as a result of Hidalgo’s appointments in 2018, 69% of public service managers are women – 11 women and 5 men. The mayor described the decision of the fine as “absurd”.

“The city has to pay a fine for appointing many women to leadership positions, which has made the city administration seemingly too feminist,” she said, expressing a willingness to pay the fine, calling it unfair, dangerous and irresponsible.

In a tweet, French Public Service Minister Amelie de Monchalin announced that the fine had been imposed for 2018. Meanwhile, in 2019, an amendment to the law came into force, according to which the fine is not imposed if the management consciously advances women to correct the gender imbalance.

“I want the amount of the fine paid by Paris for 2018 to finance specific actions aimed at promoting women in society. “I invite you to the ministry to discuss them,” she said in a message to Hidalgo.

The Wall Street Journal writes that lately many countries are trying to encourage women’s participation in political processes. For example, some researchers have found that female leaders are more effective at fighting coronavirus than men. At least in the early stages of the spread of the plague.

For example, a study by two scientists in 194 countries found that in mid-May women leaders were more likely to go to the lockdown of the economy, while in women-led countries the death toll was almost halved. This may be due to the fact that women have taken more decisive action to prevent or slow down the spread of the infection.

According to the source, Anne Hidalgo, who was re-elected mayor for the second time earlier this year, is one of the most prominent members of the Socialist Party. She also fought against the spread of the epidemic in Europe, Paris from time to time had stricter restrictions than in other parts of the country.

By the way, the decision to fine the mayor found a wide response both in the international press and on social networks. The issue was also addressed by the former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, spreading the Guardian’s publication on the issue in tweets.

In response, the incumbent French mayor thanked the American figure for her support.

It should be reminded that 21 of 65 members or 32% of the Yerevan Council of Elders are women, and this fact has not affected the leadership of the municipality, which so far consists entirely of men. The mayor of Yerevan and his four deputies are men, all three of the mayor’s advisers are men, the mayor’s assistant, the press secretary, the chief of staff, the chief architect of the city are also men. Women appear only in the positions of heads of departments, and only three out of 22 heads of departments of the municipality are women. To complete the picture, all 12 administrative districts of the capital are headed by men. Only one of the 19 deputy heads of the administrative district is a woman.

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