Italy's 'small, silent protest' against femicide

While the traditional Republic Day military parade and air display from Italy's Frecce Tricolori took place in central Rome on Thursday, a smaller display took place across the country as Italians used the colour red to protest against the "culture of femicide", two days after a 22-year-old's ex-boyfriend confessed to her brutal murder.

The burning body of Sara Di Pietrantonio was found on the outskirts of Rome by her mother in the early hours of Sunday morning, and the crime has brought new attention to the problem of femicide in Italy. The prosecutor in the case said that the couple had gone through a "violent period" and that 27-year-old Vincenzo Paduano "couldn't accept that she had abandoned him."

Marches took place on Tuesday in several cities including Naples, Rome and Florence, and many people also hung red items from their windows in a sign of solidarity, after a message circulated on Whatsapp urged them to display "anything red" as part of an effort to raise awareness of and "eradicate the culture of femicide".

The colour red is often used in assocaiation with women's rights in Italy, and public displays of red shoes are common on International Women's Day.

Here are some of the images of the protest marches and displays of red shared on social media.

With many women and many men, for Sara Di Pietrantonio and all the victims'

'A red bedsheet in order not to forget'

'For Sara and for all the others'

'A small silent protest'

'A red cloth at the window to remember the many sisters lost to FEMINICIDE'

#saranonsarà#SaraDiPietrantonio pic.twitter.com/EpsIE5ytdB

— Susy Sinopoli (@susysin71) June 2, 2016