Staff at the Eiffel Tower in Paris went on strike over allegations that female employees were ‘removed’ from the premises during a visit by a Hindu religious group days earlier, workers and management said. The dispute stems from a private visit last week by a delegation of about 100 people linked to BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha), a religious group whose representatives were in France for festivities related to the inauguration of a temple in the Paris suburbs.
In a statement, Eiffel Tower staff condemned “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced, and rendered invisible based on their gender” during the visit by the delegation.
“Instructions were given to female employees of the Eiffel Tower and to female employees of contractors to make themselves invisible in order to welcome this delegation,” the staff said in their statement, adding they were shocked to have been put in such a situation.
“Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present.”
‘Hindu Group’s Request’
AFP
SETE, the operating company that runs the Paris landmark, acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be organised to limit “interactions with women” and said that “these conditions should not have been accepted.”
The conditions “were not in line with SETE’s values, nor with the principles of equality between men and women,” the company said, promising to accept the “consequences.”
“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,” SETE president Ariel Weil, who is also a socialist elected official in Paris, told news agency AFP.
BAPS Response
The Hindu group, which consecrated its first major temple in France on Sunday, near Paris, issued a statement after the protest, saying it respects the concerns raised and takes them seriously.
“Given the size of our delegation, the visit was organised in coordination with the Eiffel Tower teams at the start of normal opening hours in order to limit as much as possible any disruption for other visitors. To our knowledge, at no time was access to the Eiffel Tower denied to anyone,” the statement read.
“Nevertheless, we wish to offer our sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by this situation. We are deeply committed to the universal values of mutual respect and service to others,” it added.
Nous comprenons les préoccupations exprimées et les prenons très au sérieux.
Compte tenu de la taille de notre délégation, la visite a été organisée en coordination avec les équipes de la tour Eiffel, au début des horaires habituels d’ouverture, afin de limiter autant que… pic.twitter.com/gyiwzmh6Jv
— BAPS Mandir Swaminarayan Hindou de Paris (@BAPSParis) September 7, 2026
France Reacts
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said that an investigation would be launched “as soon as possible.” In a post on social media platform X, he said that he was aware of the employees’ anger and agreed their dissatisfaction was legitimate.
“It is urgent that all light be shed on the facts that led to this protest,” Gregoire wrote.
French equality minister Aurore Berge also reacted angrily on X. “In France, we do not ask women to erase themselves. No dogma, no religion is above the laws of the Republic,” she wrote.
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also criticised the incident, saying France would “never accept that women’s presence be ‘limited.'”
Gabriel Attal, a centrist rival to become president, said that “in France, no culture, no belief, no religion, nothing, and no one can come and dictate to women what their place should be.”
The Tower, which receives nearly seven million visitors a year according to its website, was closed all day on Monday but will open as normal on Tuesday, according to a staff representative.