As the dust settles over the Dutch parliamentary elections, the international press corps are packing their bags with one last stiff drink to cover their disappointment as they head out to Schiphol Airport, hoping that France or Germany may deliver something more exciting.

Westend61 via Getty Images

When we stood in a circle and you went round sparring with us one by one, you made fun of my punching - you mimicked the feeble jabs made by girls who slap at each other. You singled me out. I notice you didn't do this with any of the guys who missed their punches.

Never has the time been more right for a full domestic ivory ban in the UK. At a time when the Government is already facing a wave of criticism over its manifesto-breaking National Insurance tax hike, all eyes are on its double manifesto pledge of pressing for a 'total ban on the ivory trade'.

Bethany's story is a stark reminder that children and young people all over the country need the support Barnardo's offers. It's brave programming by Coronation Street's creators and could protect children from abuse and exploitation.

The link between child poverty and their life-long health and wellbeing must be broken. Putting this right should form part of a modern national mission. Sadly children don't have a voice so we believe we have a responsibility to speak on their behalf. A national ambition to end child poverty should be a challenge that unites us all.

Nina Samuels, the first woman in Europe to win the main championship for a mixed gender wrestling match, is the epitome of Girl Power. Here, for The Huffington Post UK, she vlogs about the power of feminism in sport, what got her into wrestling and what needs to change when it comes to women in sport.

On 20th July, 2013, I received the phone call that no parent wants to get. The voice said that my 15-year-old daughter was gravely ill and they were trying to save her life. On that beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, Martha had swallowed half a gram of MDMA powder (more widely known as ecstasy) that turned out to be 91% pure.

I was continuously put down for being very effeminate and gender non conforming for the most part. It is only in the last few years that my gender expression conforms in certain ways. Claiming that trans women have not faced misogyny for most part of their lives is simply a generalisation that is not realistic to make.

Bertram Henry via Getty Images

While he has a laugh and moves on, those women might wander on seemingly unperturbed, but they might surreptitiously be looking for their keys to hold in their fist, or pretending to take a phone call or crossing to the other side of the road. He may not even notice; such is the level of unexamined privilege that what's quickly forgotten banter to him might last a whole journey home for the woman.

When my children wrote their Christmas lists for Santa, the contents were not that surprising based on what their interests are.   My daughter wrote hers very studiously and in great detail.   I helped my son with his, given that he is only three.  His list was just the loveliest list.   It comprised two things: Loads of ninjas, and loads of babies.

And there it is. That first moment in the day when you hear your own dad come streaming out of your mouth like a song you long since thought you'd forgotten but in fact remember every single word to. That's right. Dad phrases are exactly like 'Never Ever' by the All Saints (try it - it's in there I guarantee).

What was the most important thing you learned about sex before you did it? Use a condom, maybe? STIs? Pregnancy? Which bit 'goes' where? If you had good sex education, maybe you learned the importance of consent, or a bit about love and relationships.

Unbelievably, there are those who still insist on denying the existence of the world's environmental crisis, and worryingly, some of these are in pivotal positions when it comes to what happens in the next 10 years. This by the way is the period in which many experts believe we still have a chance to mitigate the rise in global temperatures.

Luciana Berger is the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree and president of Labour's Campaign for Mental Health. In this vlog for The Huffington Post UK, filmed on International Women's Day, Luciana talks about the importance of caring for women's mental health as they go through pregnancy and childbirth, bereavement care for parents who lose their children, and why we cannot let mums feel like they have nowhere to turn.

EU nationals make a huge contribution to our economy and our public services, but let us not ignore the number of EU nationals that see the UK as more than that: this is their home. We have a duty to them to ensure that they continue to feel welcome here and failure to provide a unilateral guarantee of their continued right to live and work here undermines that.

Today we get to recognise some amazing young people who have not had the easiest start in life and have had to overcome some major obstacles, which makes it all the more incredible when you hear what they've achieved.

Dan Murtah

Those conservative Catholics aren't happy with me and I have received many messages telling me so: from "Good riddance," and "Shame on you," to "You are damned to hell fire for eternity". The irony of these un-Christian attacks.

Ten years ago a radical change was called for in the treatment of women in the criminal justice system... This will not only change the lives of women at risk of offending and their families, but will also benefit society as a whole.

PeopleImages via Getty Images

Women of faith in mainstream British culture are rarely properly developed, well rounded characters - and when they do make an appearance, they are often presented either as victims of a patriarchal system or as tragic virgins.

As viewers of Channel 4's The Secret Life of the Zoo TV series will know, Chester's elephant herd are a close knit family. Scientific research has shown that social bonds between individual elephants has a big influence on cohesion in the whole group and consequently the health and wellbeing of the herd.