The Eiffel Tower was closed on Monday after staff went on strike over the removal of female workers during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation, sparking a dispute over gender equality.
The delegation of about 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, known as BAPS, visited the Paris landmark on Saturday.
According to staff union representative Diane Davoine, female employees were asked to leave their work positions as the delegation arrived and were replaced 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 told Reuters.
She said management had since apologised to the affected workers but that the incident had caused anger and humiliation among staff.
“So that absolutely does not go down well with the employees, with women obviously, who are all humiliated by what happened, by the way some were treated,” she said.
Davoine said tensions increased over the weekend before employees decided to meet on Monday to demand dialogue with management and assurances that such treatment would not happen again.
The Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), the company operating the monument, confirmed that the delegation had requested that the visit be organised to limit “interactions with women.”
SETE told AFP that such conditions “should not have been accepted”, adding that they were inconsistent with the company’s values and the principles of equality between men and women.
SETE president Ariel Weil said the arrangement was unacceptable and reaffirmed the Eiffel Tower’s commitment to France’s republican values and gender equality.
“It is clearly not an acceptable practice, I restate the Eiffel Tower’s commitment to republican values and to the equality of men and women.”
The controversy comes as BAPS celebrated the consecration of its first major temple in France on Sunday in the suburbs of Paris.
In a statement on X, the BAPS temple in Paris said the Eiffel Tower visit had been arranged with the monument’s team at the beginning of normal opening hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing other visitors.
The organisation apologised “for any pain or inconvenience caused”, adding that it believed in “the universal values of mutual respect and service.”
BAPS describes itself as a spiritual, volunteer-driven organisation dedicated to improving society through Hindu values. It operates temples in major cities around the world, including London, Los Angeles and Sydney.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said an investigation would be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the visit.
“I am taking note of the anger expressed by the employees of the Eiffel Tower, and I want to tell them that their discontent is legitimate,” he wrote on X.
“Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone.”
The incident has also drawn condemnation from across France’s political spectrum.
French hard-right leader Marine Le Pen said: “In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be ‘limited’.”
Former centre-right Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who has announced plans to run for president next year, said: “In France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can come to dictate to women their place.”
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly, also criticised the reported arrangement. “I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors.”
The Eiffel Tower remained closed as workers demanded answers from management and assurances that gender equality would be upheld in the workplace.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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