Eiffel Tower reopens after dispute over removal of female staff

The Eiffel Tower reopened on Tuesday after staff walked out over the removal of female colleagues during a visit by a Hindu religious group that later apologised.

Visitors were passing through security checkpoints at the foot of the landmark shortly before 9:30 a.m., according to an AFP journalist. The tower’s website said it was open.

The monument closed on September 7 after employees protested instructions that women should step aside during a Saturday visit by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a global Hindu organisation headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. Staff said women had been sidelined, replaced and told not to cross certain areas while the delegation was present.

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unacceptable

The tower’s operating company, SETE, acknowledged the delegation’s request but said the conditions were unacceptable and inconsistent with the Eiffel Tower’s values of gender equality. France’s Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination, Aurore Bergé, described the alleged incident as “unacceptable.”

“In France, gender equality is neither negotiable nor subject to varying standards. It is a principle, and there are no exceptions to it,” Bergé wrote on X. Thousands of Hindu devotees associated with BAPS had taken part in events and processions in France in recent days, according to the organisation’s website.

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In France, gender equality is neither negotiable nor subject to varying standards. It is a principle, and there are no exceptions to it.