Eiffel Tower head to resign after Hindu group's visit row
What's the story
Patrick Branco Ruivo, the director general of the Eiffel Tower's operating company, Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), has announced that he would step down at the end of this year. The decision comes after a controversy over female employees being sidelined during a visit by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a Hindu religious group closely linked to India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), earlier this month.
Incident details
Female staff members were asked to avoid certain areas
SETE said an internal investigation found "operational flaws and shortcomings" in the planning of the visit, which led to the exclusion of female staff.
The BAPS delegation of around 100 people was in France for the inauguration of the first BAPS temple near Paris.
During their visit to the Eiffel Tower, female staff members were asked to avoid certain areas and some were replaced by male colleagues.
Public response
Controversy sparked a 1-day strike by Eiffel Tower staff
A statement released by Eiffel Tower staff said the instructions resulted in "female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex."
"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 controversy led to a one-day strike by Eiffel Tower staff on September 7.
Future steps
BAPS apologized for the incident
SETE later admitted the BAPS delegation had asked to limit "interactions with women."
BAPS apologized for any inconvenience caused by the incident and maintained that it believed in "the universal values of mutual respect and service."
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire had called the decision to remove female employees "absurd, unjust and unacceptable," ordering two investigations into the incident.
On Tuesday, Ariel Weil, chair of SETE, said she had requested measures and training programs promoting gender equality to be implemented.