INTERNATIONAL:​ Italy lit up Rome's ancient Colosseum and Roman landmark Campidoglio in red on Thursday evening to honour women who have been killed by men to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Criminal Analysis Service of the Central Directorate of the Italian Police has reported that in 2021, 103 women have been murdered in Italy compared to 100 in the same period last year. This number represents about 40 percent of all murders committed in the country, which has reached 252 compared to 256 in 2020.

Of the 103 women killed, 87 were murdered in the family-affective sphere, 60 of them by their partner or ex-partner, with an increase of two percent over last year. Base on the same report, some 89 women are victims of gender violence every day in Italy, and in 62 percent of cases it is domestic abuse.

Murders of women were 48 percent of all murders in January-August 2020, and fell to 41 percent in the same period this year, having risen during the first COVID lockdown.