Cafe accused of joking about domestic violence with Valentine’s Day sign

The manager has said the meaning of the sign has been misinterpreted

Did you accidentally buy that takeaway coffee you promised you wouldn’t? (Getty/iStock)

A French cafe in Auckland, New Zealand has been accused of making light of domestic violence.

Eiffel en Eden put up a sign outside its door that read: "On Valentine's Day, open the car door for her. After Valentine's Day, open the car boot for her."

One passerby spotted the sign and promptly posted a photograph of it on Twitter, describing it as “tone deaf”.

“After so much effort to raise awareness of New Zealand's terrible violence against women a slow clap and a jaw drop for the most tone deaf, unfunny sign in Auckland outside Eiffel en Eden on Dominion Road,” she wrote in a Tweet that has now been retweeted more than 100 times.

Another person, who had seen the photo circulating on Twitter, said she was so shocked by the sign that she went down to the cafe herself in order to try and get it removed.

“I’ve been down there what an ignorant man!” she wrote in reference to her conversation with the cafe’s manager, Henry Gough.

“He wouldn’t change it so I did so myself and told him I’d be back if he changed it back.”

She uploaded a photograph of the now-defaced sign that had the word “boot” wiped off, meaning the sign now reads: “After Valentine’s Day open the car for her.”

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Gough said he was not the one who had written the sign but that he had approved it, thinking it referred to the altruism of helping a partner unload groceries into their car.

"It has nothing at all to do with domestic violence”, he said.

"It is romantic, Valentine's Day, [helping] with the chores at home.

"There are a few people interpreting it [as domestic violence], but we never intended it that way. We had good intentions."

Gough added that he would not change the sign.

"Why should we change it? Just because some people don't like it? There is freedom of speech in this country, and there was never a link to violence."

But New Zealand-based domestic violence charity Women’s Refuge said the sign was completely inappropriate given the rising prevalence of violence against women in the country, claiming that one in three will experience it at some point in their lives.

Writing on Facebook, they said: “It’s not hard to see why we are very disheartened and disgusted to see this sign displayed in Auckland at Eiffel en Eden on Dominion Road.

“Domestic violence is not a laughing matter and a huge part of work is changing people’s attitudes towards this serious national problem.”

The Independent has contacted Eiffel en Eden for comment.

If you have been affected by any issues mentioned in this article, you can contact the Domestic Violence Helpline for free on 0808 2000 247 or any of the folllowing organisations:

Women’s Aid

Refuge

White Ribbon

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