Eiffel Tower shut after staff protest over treatment of women during Hindu group's visit

The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors on Monday, September 7, after staff staged a walkout in protest against the treatment of female employees during a private visit by a Hindu religious delegation days earlier, workers and management said.

In a joint statement, staff, represented by the CGT trade union, said workplace instructions had led to female employees being "sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible" on the basis of their gender. Some workers were told to leave their posts and were substituted with male staff, while all female employees were instructed not to cross certain areas while the delegation was present, the statement said.

The visit involved roughly 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a Hindu spiritual movement that had inaugurated its first major temple in France over the weekend near Paris. The visit to the tower coincided with a separate cultural boat procession the group organised on the Seine on September 3.

SETE, the company that operates the Eiffel Tower, confirmed the delegation had requested the visit be arranged to limit interactions with women. The company acknowledged that "these conditions should not have been accepted," saying they were inconsistent with its values and with the principle of equality between men and women.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire called the decision to accommodate the request "unacceptable" and announced that an investigation would be opened. French Equality Minister Aurore Berge also criticised the arrangement, saying no religion is above the laws of the Republic.

BAPS issued a statement later on Monday saying it took the concerns "very seriously" and apologised for "any pain or inconvenience caused." The organisation said the visit had been coordinated with the Eiffel Tower's own team early in the day specifically to avoid disrupting other visitors, and that, to its knowledge, no one had been denied access to the monument.

The tower, which draws nearly seven million visitors a year, remained shut throughout Monday. A staff representative said it was expected to reopen as normal on Tuesday, September 8. BAPS has close ties to the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.