Eiffel Tower shut by staff walkout after female staff ordered to leave for religious visitors, ‘Humiliated’

Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower was shut down on Monday as staff walked out in protest over rules imposed for a religious group visit. As reported by the BBC, a Hindu religious group visited the landmark on Saturday, and all female employees were asked to vacate their positions.

The female employees’ removal apparently came as a surprise. Staff union representative Diane Davoine explained that the staff apparently only became aware of this requirement when the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) visitors arrived at the foot of the tower.

She said: “During the visit of this delegation, women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there. 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.”

“I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors”

Davoine explained that following the visit, there was widespread anger over this discriminatory religious rule being imposed on them without warning: “Tensions mounted over the weekend, so this morning, the employees decided to meet: first, to open a dialogue with management, and second, to ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again.”

However, in protest, the entire Eiffel Tower staff reportedly walked out on Monday to underline that this must never happen again. The tour was organized by Société d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), which confirmed that the Hindu delegation had requested that their visit to the tower be set up to limit “interactions with women.”

Now, facing widespread criticism, SETE has admitted that “these conditions should not have been accepted”. They said discriminating against women is “not in line with SETE’s values, nor with the principles of equality between men and women”. SETE president Ariel Weil added: “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.”

BAPS, which recently consecrated its first major temple in France, also struck a contrite tone. In a post on X (translated from French), they said they “understand the concerns expressed and take them very seriously,” that they “wish to offer our sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by this situation,” and that they are “deeply committed to the universal values of mutual respect and service to others.”

The tower is considered to be a symbol of France’s egalitarian values, so this incident has kicked up a political storm. French National Assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet said: “I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors. Welcoming others never means renouncing our values. In France, women fully occupy public spaces. No one dictates to them that they must become invisible there.”

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said the employees were right to be furious and vowed he would launch an investigation: “It is not acceptable that such conditions can be tolerated. These are neither my values, nor those that the Eiffel Tower should uphold, where everyone—regardless of gender—should be able to move about and act freely, without distinction between women and men. … 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.”