Reading this headline had us thinking we’d woken up on another planet. Can a government hire too many women? Apparently so, and in the progressive country of France, no less. 

Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo was fined $110 000 for hiring too many women. Women were appointed in 11 out of the city’s 16 top posts.

Ironically, Hidalgo’s desire for more women in government was in line with a 2012 French law aimed at putting more women in the civil service – fines could be imposed if there was a gender imbalance in government. In 2019, that law was amended to say there would be no fines… but Hidalgo did the hiring in 2018 when the fines were still in place.

Hidalgo said the fine was “absurd”, but happily paid it anyway, saying she would personally deliver it to the ministry that issued it.

This brief was originally published in The Wrap here.

We do weekly news summaries every Thursday. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your WhatsApp or email.
+ posts