Indignation at the Eiffel Tower for having hidden the workers during a religious visit
The company organizing the event asked the women to leave their jobs and "make themselves invisible"
The Eiffel Tower is at the center of controversy over alleged sexist attitudes towards its female workers. As the monument's staff assured in a statement to the newspaper Le Parisien, last Saturday a private visit was organized for about 100 people linked to BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha), a Hindu group characterized by having a conservative line of thought that was visiting France for the inauguration of a temple on the outskirts of Paris.
During the meeting, however, the female workers of the Eiffel Tower were asked to "leave their workstations so that men could take their places," union representative Diane Davoine told Reuters. According to the employees, the instruction was given to the Eiffel Tower workers and those from subcontracted companies to "make themselves invisible with the goal of receiving the delegation".
The company that organizes these types of events at the monument, the Eiffel Tower Operating Company (SETE), has not yet spoken on the matter.
Indignation in France
The public reaction has not been long in coming. Political leaders such as Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France Regional Council -where Paris is located-, has assured on her social networks that she is “shocked”. "I have personally informed the BAPS representatives in France that these types of practices are contrary to the laws of the Republic".
In this vein, the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, has also stressed that it is not acceptable for women to be told to step aside to satisfy the demands of foreign visitors. "Welcoming others never means renouncing our values. In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible," she added.
For his part, former Prime Minister and deputy for Paris Michel Barnier has requested explanations from the SETE, and has labeled the events as "unacceptable". "In France, it is not customs from other places that dictate to women how they should dress or behave in public spaces," he declared. "Women are not hidden. They are not made to disappear. They are respected and their freedom is defended," Barnier insisted.