“The Battered Wife.” Fish and chip shop owner defends business name amid social media outrage


Backlash over the name of a fish and chip shop at Wangan, south of Innisfail, has forced the owner to temporarily close up amid safety fears.

The Battered Wife has been operating under its double-entendre name for 15 months but a recent social media post about it has sparked fury.

“I am floored to see a fish/chip shop in Queensland openly promote violence against women,” wrote Rach Mac, the founder of Broken Crayons Still Colour Foundation, which was created to help women & their children escape domestic violence.



The Battered Wife's owner, Carolyn Kerr, has told TropicNow the post has gone viral, leading to threats against her and forcing her to close her shop for a night.

"That was a safety issue," she said.

"Someone posted she was going to smash my windows and the prank calls were just relentless."

Ms Kerr, a former policewoman, said she is a domestic violence survivor herself and claims her business name is not promoting abusive behaviour against women at all.

"It's my own little stand up and be counted," she said.

"I have another sign on the building that says, 'the only battering anyone need know.'"

Ms Kerr said when she opened the shop, she gave the name the pub test.

"I put it out there to see what the response would be.

"There were a few people with concerns but most were supportive and thought it was okay and funny," she said.

However, the issue has sparked debate across social media.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” wrote Manda Hutton.

“Very poor taste.”

However, Yorban Steiner was sympathetic.

“I'm sorry that you've had to deal with this absolute disgusting attack on you and your business,” he said.

Media personality Lisa Wilkinson has even weighed in, through a post on Twitter.

“There should be no debate.

“This is disgusting,” she said.

“Domestic violence is not a joke.”

However Ms Kerr is undeterred by the reaction.

"I'm not prompted to change the name because of this.

"Our society needs to change," she said.

“Why do you obsess to protect a disgusting and degrading name put on beautiful, intelligent women in bad situations by an uncomfortable society?”