Story perspectives

Eiffel Tower Closes After Staff Protest Gender-Based Orders

9/9/2026

Center

Eiffel Tower Closed

The Eiffel Tower in Paris closed on 7 September after staff walked out when female employees were asked to leave workstations during a Hindu delegation visit.
BAPS, the Hindu delegation’s organization, apologized for any pain or inconvenience caused by the incident.
Operator SETE said delegation’s request to limit contact with women should not have been accepted.
The Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors on 8 September after the strike ended.

Left

Eiffel Tower Closed

The Eiffel Tower closed on 7 September after staff walked out when women were told to leave their workstations during a Hindu delegation’s visit.
Left-leaning coverage stresses that the incident violates France’s republican principle of gender equality and threatens workers’ rights.
The shutdown halted the Eiffel Tower, which welcomes nearly 7 million visitors annually, for one day.
Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire announced an investigation into the visit’s arrangement and the gender-based instructions.

Blindspot

Minister for Gender Equality Aurore Bergé said the incident was unacceptable and that no religious doctrine can override French equality laws.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Left-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Center-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

In July 2003 President Jacques Chirac appointed a commission that recommended banning “ostentatious” religious symbols, leading Parliament to vote the 2004 law on secularity in March, which barred visible faith items in public schools. The Eiffel Tower shutdown after BAPS asked female staff to leave echoes that same laïcité enforcement, prompting Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire and Minister Aurore Bergé to reaffirm the principle amid legal scrutiny.

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Eiffel Tower Closed

The Eiffel Tower in Paris closed on 7 September after staff walked out when female employees were asked to leave workstations during a Hindu delegation visit.
BAPS, the Hindu delegation’s organization, apologized for any pain or inconvenience caused by the incident.
Operator SETE said delegation’s request to limit contact with women should not have been accepted.
The Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors on 8 September after the strike ended.

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