The Eiffel Tower in Paris was temporarily closed after staff went on strike to protest the treatment of their female colleagues during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation. Women were asked to leave some of their jobs and some positions were replaced by men, which caused strong reactions among staff and French authorities.
The incident is related to a visit by representatives of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) - an international religious organization within the Swaminarayan Hindu tradition. According to the Eiffel Tower operator SETE, interaction with women was previously requested to be limited. The company later admitted that such conditions should not have been accepted.
Union representatives reported that some female employees were instructed to withdraw from certain areas while the delegation was in the tower. In some jobs, they were replaced by men. The employees described the incident as discriminatory and incompatible with the principles of equality.
In protest, staff went on a one-day strike, which led to the closure of one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world. The Eiffel Tower reopened the next day after a meeting between management and employees.
The incident also caused political reactions. The Paris authorities announced an investigation, and local and national authorities stressed that gender equality is non-negotiable. The President of the French National Assembly, Yael Brown-Pivet, also criticized the decision to remove female employees from view during the visit.
BAPS denied the claim that it had insisted on excluding women from the Eiffel Tower, but apologized for the inconvenience and tension caused. The organization said the visit had been planned for an early hour so as not to disrupt normal tourist schedules.
The scandal has put the question of how far religious considerations can go when they conflict with labor rights and the principle of gender equality in the spotlight. The Parisian authorities promised a full investigation into the case.