It took her 10 years to leave him. Ten years of being hit, kicked, choked, strangled. But the night he almost killed her, that was the night she left.

Polly Gillespie reveals what it was like growing up next door to a violent man and what she wishes her family had done differently to deal with it.

New Zealand has the worst rate of family and intimate-partner violence in the world. A shocking 80% of incidents go unreported.

Prime Minister John Key discusses how family violence rates in New Zealand are too high.

Superintendent Tusha Penny has worked on the front line for many years so she has seen it all —the wives beaten beyond recognition, the girlfriends strangled almost to death and the countless women lying dead in their own homes.

New Zealand has the worst rate of family violence in the developed world.

On average, police attend a family violence incident every five and a half minutes - that's 279 calls for help each day. Why is it so bad? No one knows for sure.

COMMENT: Men who hit women are bullies and control freaks and they're dangerous. If you choose violence, you need to own it and get help.

Five years ago Emily Longley was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Her father Mark talks about the terrible toll of losing his daughter.

COMMENT: People talking about domestic violence victims often ask "Why doesn't she leave?" That is the wrong question to ask. It places responsibility for the situation on the victim, rather than the perpetrator.

"There is a steady increase of women being abducted, tied up, put in the boot of cars, taken away to the bush or the beach, or their partners having utensils to bury them."

NZ has dropped to 10th in the Global Gender Gap report of more than 140 countries, write Judy McGregor.

A British MP suspended from the Labour Party for sending salacious text messages to a 17-year-old girl is under fire from one ex-wife.

COMMENT: When you're in charge of a country with one of the worst rates of sexual violence, you shouldn't be taking part in rape jokes, writes Kyle MacDonald.

MP Marama Davidson has revealed she was abused by a relative.

Kiwi singer Tina Cross has teamed up with a police choir for a powerful message against domestic violence.

A series of shocking images have been created to campaign against domestic abuse.

Women's Refuge has received backlash after announcing it is set to profit from a charity boxing match.

13 years after the attack, Ms Butler was able to thank those who risked their own lives to save hers.

A man who smashed his son over the head with a broken metal pipe covered in ash and beat his wife and daughter has been put behind bars for four years.

Boys realise very early in life they simply do not hit girls and that it is part of what makes them masculine.

For many people, the violence of Chris Brown's attack on singer Rihanna left no room for shades of grey, or for forgiveness.

Denise Ritchie yesterday sent a two-page summary of Brown's lyrics to the prominent women who had spoken in Brown's favour.

Body parts bitten off, maimed from severe burns - experts believe the brutality of attacks on women by their male partners is worsening.

"Why doesn't she leave?" That is the wrong question to ask. It places responsibility for the situation on the victim, rather than the perpetrator, writes Catriona MacLennan.

A former Immigration Minister says he would let Chris Brown into the country because it would cause no obvious harm.

The day after Parmita Rani left her controlling husband, he waited in the foyer of her central-Auckland language school to stab her to death.

Domestic violence campaigner Lesley Elliott is among a group of people who was recognised at an investiture ceremony in Wellington today.

A week after Tara Brown went to police for protection she was beaten to death in a brutal road rage attack.