The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors in Paris on Monday, September 7, after employees went on strike over allegations that female staff were asked to remain out of public view during a recent visit by a Hindu religious delegation.
The dispute followed a visit on Saturday by around 100 members associated with the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). The delegation’s presence reportedly prompted concerns among staff over instructions affecting interactions between male visitors and female employees.
Diane Davoine, a representative of the staff union, said some female workers were asked to leave their regular posts while the delegation was at the landmark. According to Davoine, several of those positions were subsequently filled by male colleagues.
“During the visit of this delegation, women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there,” Davoine said.
A statement from Eiffel Tower employees said women working for both the monument and contractors were instructed to make themselves “invisible” while the delegation was present.
Some female employees were allegedly asked to leave their posts and move to other areas, while men replaced them at certain positions.
The staff also said female employees were told not to pass through or cross certain areas during the delegation’s visit.
Female employees protest and Eiffel Tower closes
The instructions sparked anger among staff, particularly female employees, who said they felt humiliated by the way they had been treated.
Davoine said tensions increased over the weekend before employees decided to meet on Monday to open dialogue with management and ensure that women would never again be treated in such a manner.
The Eiffel Tower remained closed throughout Monday as workers went on strike. A staff representative said the landmark was expected to reopen normally on Tuesday.
The monument, which receives nearly seven million visitors each year, was also the subject of an investigation announced by Paris authorities following the controversy.
Company Operator accepts delegation made request
The Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), the company operating the Paris landmark, confirmed that the Hindu delegation had requested that the visit be organized to limit “interactions with women.”
SETE said those conditions should not have been accepted because they were inconsistent with the company’s values and with the principle of equality between women and men.
SETE president Ariel Weil called the practice clearly unacceptable and reaffirmed the Eiffel Tower’s commitment to France’s republican values and gender equality.
“We are going to shed light on what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions,” Weil said, according to AFP.
The company also said it would accept the consequences of the incident.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said an investigation would be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the visit. He said the anger expressed by Eiffel Tower employees was legitimate and described it as unacceptable that the monument’s management had agreed to the delegation’s conditions.
Grégoire stressed that equality between women and men must apply everywhere in Paris, including at the city’s historic monuments.
France’s Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination, Aurore Bergé, also condemned the alleged treatment of female workers.
“In France, gender equality is neither negotiable nor subject to varying standards,” Bergé said, stressing that the principle has no exceptions.
She separately said women in France should not be asked to “erase themselves” and that no religious doctrine stands above the laws of the French Republic.
French politicians denounce incident
The controversy drew criticism from politicians across France’s political spectrum. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said France would never accept restrictions being placed on the presence of women.
Former centre-right Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who has said he intends to run for president next year, said no culture, belief, religion, person or organization could dictate to women what their place should be in France.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly, also criticized the reported arrangements, saying she would not accept women being compelled to step aside to accommodate the demands of foreign visitors.
BAPS responds to controversy
BAPS, the Hindu organization linked to the delegation, did not directly address the allegations concerning female Eiffel Tower employees in its initial statement.
The organization said the visit had been arranged in coordination with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing other visitors.
BAPS said it took the concerns seriously and apologized for any pain or inconvenience caused.
“To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower,” the organization said, while reiterating its belief in universal values of mutual respect and service.
BAPS describes itself as a “spiritual, volunteer-driven fellowship” focused on improving society through individual growth and Hindu values including faith, service and global harmony.
The Eiffel Tower visit came during a series of major BAPS events in France. The organization, which is headquartered in Ahmedabad, India, consecrated its first major Hindu temple in France on Sunday in the suburbs of Paris.
The Eiffel Tower visit also took place on the same day as a cultural boat procession on the River Seine organized by the BAPS spiritual movement.
BAPS said thousands of Hindu devotees had participated in events and processions in France in recent days.
According to the organization, more than 5,500 Hindu devotees from around the world joined the Seine boat procession, while another procession in Bussy-Saint-Georges, an eastern suburb of Paris, was led by women and girls of all ages.
Eiffel Tower Expected to Reopen
The dispute has placed the Eiffel Tower at the center of wider questions about workplace equality, religious accommodation and France’s secular republican principles.
The operator of the landmark, SETE, has acknowledged that the conditions reportedly sought by the visiting delegation should not have been accepted. Paris authorities have also said they will examine how the arrangements were approved and whether proper procedures were followed.
Staff are expected to resume work on Tuesday, which could allow the Eiffel Tower to reopen to visitors. The investigation will focus on who approved the disputed arrangements, how the instructions were communicated to employees and what safeguards may be introduced to prevent a similar situation in the future.
