Eiffel Tower to reopen after staff protest over sidelining of women

The Eiffel Tower is expected to reopen on Tuesday after staff protested against the removal of female employees during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation. The tower’s operating company, SETE, said the delegation had asked for the visit to be arranged in a way that limited “interactions with women”, adding that the request “should not have been accepted”.

SETE said staff and management held a meeting on Monday, after which the landmark was scheduled to reopen.

The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), the Hindu spiritual movement that organised the visit, apologised for “any pain or inconvenience caused” by the incident.


“To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower,” BAPS said in a post on X.

“Due to the size of our delegation, the visit was arranged in conjunction with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal operating hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing others.”

Eiffel Tower staff condemned the instructions issued during the visit.

It said it opposed “professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex”.

“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,” staff members said.

They added that some women were asked to leave their posts and move to other areas, while men replaced them at some positions.

“All female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present,” the staff statement said.