Employees of the Eiffel Tower have gone on strike since Monday due to the fact that women were not allowed to work because of the visit of a Hindu religious delegation. The people who visited the tower that day found a poster which said “The opening of the Tower has been delayed for operational reasons.”
Staff Condemn Sidelining Of Female Colleagues
Behind the closure was a wave of anger among staff, who released a statement condemning what they called professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex during the group’s visit to the monument.
Visit Involved 100 Men From Hindu Spiritual Group
The visit in question involved around 100 men belonging to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, popularly known as BAPS, a Hindu spiritual movement.
Operator SETE Apologises Over Decision
SETE, the company that runs the Eiffel Tower, later confirmed that the group had asked for the visit to be arranged in a way that limited interactions with women. The company issued an apology over the decision, acknowledging that it should not have agreed to such terms.
Political Backlash Follows In Paris
The incident quickly drew political backlash in Paris. Emmanuel Gregoire, the city’s Socialist mayor, did not hold back in his criticism, calling the move unacceptable. He stressed that equality between men and women could not be compromised at the foot of the city’s most iconic landmarks, or anywhere else in Paris for that matter.
Questions Over Cultural Sensitivity vs Employee Rights
The episode certainly left many people asking themselves just how much an institution should bend over backwards in trying to satisfy visiting groups when their demands are based on the concept of gender equality, an issue that has been accepted as non-negotiable in France.
What Will Happen Next?
So far, it is not clear whether SETE will put in place any guidelines to ensure that similar occurrences do not happen again, or if this event will spark further discussion as to how tourist locations in France deal with issues of cultural sensitivity versus employee rights.
The protest ended that same day, but the debate surrounding this policy decision does not appear to be abating anytime soon.
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Khushi Patel is a Senior Sub Editor at NewsX, covering automotive, technology, Lifestyle, entertainment, and mainstream news. She previously worked as a Copy Editor at Times Network and has written automotive editorial content, including comparison pieces, for TimesDrive.
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