Overview
- A private visit by about 100 people linked to BAPS on Saturday reportedly led to instructions that female employees step away from their workstations so men could take their places.
- SETE, the company that runs the monument, said the delegation asked for arrangements to limit “interactions with women” and apologised that those conditions were accepted.
- Staff held a meeting and staged a walkout on Monday, forcing the Eiffel Tower to close for the day as workers demanded assurances that women would not be sidelined again.
- Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire opened an inquiry and politicians from across the spectrum publicly condemned the episode while BAPS said it did not deny access and apologised for any hurt.
- The case raises questions about how public sites should balance religious visitor requests with France’s legal and republican commitments to gender equality and equality at work, and observers will watch the outcome of internal and city probes and any sanctions or policy changes.