Eiffel Tower Closed? Here’s What Happened After BAPS Visit Sparked Row Over Women Staff
Paris: The Eiffel Tower was temporarily closed to visitors on Monday after employees protested over the alleged sidelining of female staff during a private visit by a Hindu religious delegation linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS).
The controversy began during a private visit by around 100 people associated with BAPS on Saturday, shortly after the organisation inaugurated its first major Hindu temple in France.
According to employees and union representatives, female workers at the Eiffel Tower were asked to move away from their regular workstations as the delegation passed through the monument. Male colleagues reportedly took their places.
A union representative said the women were asked to leave their workstations and described the arrangement as one in which female employees were effectively sidelined because of their sex.
The incident angered staff, who held a meeting and staged a protest on Monday. The Eiffel Tower was consequently closed to visitors, with the initial notice citing “operational reasons”.
The Eiffel Tower’s operator, Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), acknowledged that the BAPS delegation had requested that the visit be organised in a way that limited interactions with women.
SETE said it should not have accepted those conditions, describing them as inconsistent with its values and the principle of equality between men and women.
SETE president Ariel Weil called the incident unacceptable and said the company would draw the necessary conclusions.
However, BAPS has not said that it directly instructed the Eiffel Tower to remove female employees from their positions.
In a statement, BAPS said the visit had been coordinated with the Eiffel Tower authorities and scheduled at the beginning of normal opening hours because of the size of the delegation and to minimise disruption to other visitors.
The organisation said that, to the best of its knowledge, nobody was prevented from accessing the Eiffel Tower.
It also expressed regret for any pain or inconvenience caused and said it believed in the values of mutual respect and service.
The exact circumstances of who made the request and how it was implemented are now being investigated.
For the workers, the controversy was about more than a single private visit.
Union representatives said employees were angry that female workers were allegedly treated differently because of their gender. They called on management to ensure that such an incident would not happen again.
SETE has since apologised to its employees and acknowledged that the arrangements were incompatible with the company’s principles.
Paris authorities have also ordered an investigation into the incident.
French political figures, including Marine Le Pen and former prime minister Gabriel Attal, also condemned the incident.
(With inputs from agencies)
