BAPS-Eiffel Tower Row: Probe Finds No Written Request To Exclude Women Employees Out Of Sight During Visit

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has rejected claims that it asked authorities to remove, replace or keep female employees out of sight during its recent visit to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

An inquiry conducted by the General Inspectorate of the City of Paris, however, found that "a collective dysfunction" had taken place in the handling of the visit.

According to Le Parisien, the General Inspectorate of Public Safety found no "explicit request from the Hindu religious delegation to exclude women from the entire procession."

No written request found, says investigation

The inquiry concluded that the arrangements were made "between consenting adults" and found no written communication from the Hindu group asking for female employees to be removed or sidelined during the delegation's visit.

"There is not a single written document, not a single email expressing this opinion. Everything was done between consenting adults", the report stated.

A Parisian elected official told the publication that the original message may have changed as it was passed informally between people. "By having an instruction circulate by word of mouth, the message got distorted. Until we reached these failures", they said.

Eiffel Tower operator chief to step down

The investigation followed a staff walkout and widespread criticism after female employees were reportedly removed from their positions or instructed to stay out of sight during BAPS' private visit.

Patrick Branco Ruivo, head of the company operating the Eiffel Tower, is set to leave his position at the end of the year. His departure comes after an internal investigation identified "operational flaws and shortcomings" in the organisation of the September 5 visit, which resulted in the "unacceptable" removal of female employees, according to a statement from SETE.

Le Parisien reported that Branco-Ruivo resigned to "protect (the employees) and preserve the team."

Incident triggers political backlash and staff protest

The treatment of female employees during the September 5 visit led to a staff walkout and forced the Eiffel Tower to close for a day. The incident also drew criticism from across France's political spectrum, particularly in a country where secularism and gender equality are strongly emphasised.

SETE had earlier acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had asked for the visit to be arranged in a way that would limit "interactions with women". The company said at the time that "these conditions should not have been accepted".

Eiffel Tower employees also alleged that they had received instructions resulting in "female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex" during the delegation's visit.

"Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present", the staff statement said.