The owners of Victorian cafe, Handsome Her, have found themselves at the centre of a polarising debate after its introduction of an 18 per cent "gender surcharge" for its male customers.

The vegan cafe in Melbourne's inner north suburb of Brunswick, which labels itself as a cafe "by women, for women" stipulates three anti-patriarchal "house rules," including priority seating for women, a premium charge for males and respect for both genders.

"House Rules, Rule #1: women have priority seating. Rule #2: men will be charged an 18% premium to reflect the gender pay gap (2016) which is donated to a women's service. Rule #3 respect goes both ways," the chalkboard reads in the cafe.

While Handsome Her's main goal is to help give back to women's charities, according to Broadsheet Melbourne who spoke to owner Alexandra O'Brien, it also hopes that the initiative that runs for one week every month will help spark conversations about the gender pay gap.