The Eiffel Tower in Paris was closed on Monday after workers went on strike to protest claims that a female co-worker was told to keep an eye on her during a visit by a Hindu religious group, drawing criticism from French politicians.
About 100 members of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a global Hindu organization headquartered in Ahmedabad, India, visited the landmark on Saturday.
BAPS describes itself as a “spiritual, volunteer-led fellowship” dedicated to improving society through personal growth and promoting Hindu values of faith, service, and world harmony. The group inaugurated a new Hindu temple in Paris on Sunday.
Diane Davoin, a union representative for Eiffel Tower employees, told reporters that during the visit, “women were asked to leave their workplaces to make way for men”.
“So this is definitely not good for the employees and obviously for the women, who are all feeling humiliated by what happened because of the way some people were treated,” she said.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said an investigation had been launched into the claims.
“It is unacceptable that such a situation is tolerated,” he wrote to X. “These are not my values, nor are they the values that the Eiffel Tower should uphold, which is that everyone should be able to move and act freely, regardless of whether they are women or men.”
According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, the company that operates the Eiffel Tower (SETE) confirmed that the delegation had requested a visit with restrictions on “interactions with women.”
“These conditions should not have been accepted,” SETE said, BFMTV reported.
CNN has asked SETE for a response.
In a statement on X, BAPS did not directly mention the female staff, but said it took the concerns “very seriously” and the visit was planned “in coordination with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours” to minimize disruption to other visitors.
“To our knowledge, no one was prevented from entering the Eiffel Tower at any point,” the statement said. “Nevertheless, we sincerely apologize for the pain and inconvenience caused.”
CNN has reached out to BAPS for comment.
The incident sparked outrage in a country with a long history of feminist activism and a constitutional commitment to secularism that traces its ideological roots to the French Revolution.
Over the past century, the French feminist movement has successfully pioneered campaigns for women’s suffrage, reproductive rights, and greater gender equality. In 2024, France became the first country in the world to guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution.
France’s Minister for Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Aurore Berger said the alleged incident at the Eiffel Tower was “unacceptable”.
“In France, gender equality is non-negotiable and not subject to different standards. It is a principle and there are no exceptions,” she wrote to X.
According to the BAPS website, thousands of Hindu believers associated with BAPS have participated in various events and processions in France in recent days.
Last week, a procession “led by women and girls of all ages” marched through the streets of Busy-Saint-Georges, in the eastern suburbs of the French capital, BAPS said. More than 5,500 Hindu believers from around the world also took part in the boat procession down the Seine.
BAPS is known all over the world as an ornate temple.
BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, located in Robbinsville, New Jersey, is the largest Hindu temple in the United States. The UAE’s largest Hindu temple will also be built, to be opened by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024.
Hinduism is widely considered to be the world’s oldest extant religion and the third largest religion after Christianity and Islam, with over 1 billion followers.
Hinduism particularly honors femininity through the worship of powerful goddesses, including Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. Kali, the goddess who destroys evil and ego. and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
However, deep-seated misogyny and debates over gender equality within the religion continue, particularly over women’s access to temples and certain rituals.
In a landmark ruling in 2018, India’s Supreme Court struck down a centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age to the Sabarimala temple in the southern state of Kerala, declaring the restriction discriminatory and unconstitutional.
