A mentoring programme aimed at helping women victims of domestic violence is the brainchild of fashion designer Annah Stretton.

Editorial: It can be easy to jump to assumptions about statistics, especially if they appear to support a particular agenda.

Ban Bossy is an American initiative creating worldwide interest and lots of flak, writes Robyn Yousef.

Looking back, the once common practice of painting lead on to women's faces to lighten their skin seems bizarre.

Jason Tamaiti Kihi Phillips admits he was one of those guys who was too shy to ask for medical help until it was nearly too late.

Maori are living longer and their infant mortality rate will soon be the same as Pakeha - but they're still over-represented in poverty statistics.

New Zealand is still wasting its "demographic dividend" of young Maori and Pacific people reaching working age.

Gaps between New Zealand's main ethnic groups are closing for our youngest citizens - but remain deeply entrenched on many indicators for older children and adults.

The woman who had an affair with Auckland Mayor Len Brown has spoken in support of cyber-bullying laws and that she was being stalked on social media.

The mother of tortured Rotorua three-year-old Nia Glassie has had her parole revoked by the Parole Board.

Some parents have become obsessed about giving their offspring the added edge, writes Peter Lyons. Choice of school often dominates dinner party conversations.

Two of the Cunliffe donors have had their money refunded to preserve their anonymity - and who could blame them, writes Brian Rudman. For the small amounts, who needs the hassle.

Architecture students have imagined how Auckland will look sporting a new super-brothel, and Wellington's future if sea levels rise.

Australia's teenagers are increasingly becoming trapped in a culture of booze, drugs and gambling.

Auckland's historic Greys Ave flats will be refurbished, but the carpark behind them may be sold off for commercial development.

Respectful attitudes to sex would become a core part of sex education in schools under an overhaul recommended to the Govt.

If the issue of inequality and poverty is to loom large in this election year there are a couple of cherished beliefs on both sides of politics that need to surrender to evidence, writes Brian Fallow.

Never has the downside of social media been more apparent than over the past week, after TV presenter Charlotte Dawson was found dead in her apartment.

Statisticians have discovered thousands more children and the elderly living in poverty than have been reported previously.

Online abuse can range from one-off racist, sexist or otherwise distasteful comments to threats of rape and violence and sustained campaigns of harassment, writes Troy McEwan.

A specialist scheme to identify high-risk violent spouses needs a consistent national approach, says a report into fatal domestic abuse.

The school that excluded an Asperger's student after a row with a teacher says the decision to remove the boy was not taken lightly, but it'll work with his family.

One definition of a bogan is someone who fails to conform to middle-class standards of taste, dietary habits, leisure activities, styles of dress and speaking, writes Christopher Scanlon.

The family of an Asperger's child who was excluded from his high school after a dispute with a teacher hope he will be able to return to the school.

In the second of our three-part education series we investigate what's gone wrong - and how more time with better-trained teachers could help our kids lead the world again.

The brief of this column is to write about events that have been in the news during the week.

We may not have beaten the Cowboys when it mattered but our economy is in a stronger position than that of our Aussie mates, writes Eric Watson.

Big business is buzzing about New Zealand's economic prospects. Confidence is at a 20-year high and only China is more bullish than our captains of industry.

Homeless families like first-time mum Lydia Mataiti and her newborn baby will find it harder to find shelter after the closure of one of Auckland's handful of emergency houses.

Treating gambling addicts who commit crimes would be much cheaper than jailing them, and would reduce reoffending, says a New York judge.