A series of exhibitions, installations, award ceremonies, readings, concerts and screenings are scheduled in Rome in the days around International Women's Day on 8 March. The traditional gift to women on the day in Italy is a sprig of the bright yellow mimosa flower.

The Centro Culturale Elsa Morante in the city's Laurentino district celebrates Festa della Donna presents "Corpo di Donna", an exhibition focussing on the daily lives of contemporary women. The group exhibition runs from 1-17 March and features the work of 34 artists working in sculpture, painting, installation and photography.

At 18.00 on 6 March the intercultural Italian organisation A Sud holds the second edition of the Premio Donne, Pace e Ambiente, Wangari Maathai initiative at the Casa Internazionale delle Donne on Via della Lungara 19, in Trastevere. Awards will be given to five Italian activists in recognition of their struggle to defend peace, human rights, gender, environment, and their campaign to stop violence against women. The award is dedicated to the late Wangari Muta Maathai, Kenya's Nobel Peace Prize-winning political activist and one of the most influential women in Africa.

At 18.00 on 8 March, the Women for Women International (WfWI) organisation is holding a fundraiser called "Celebrate the Voices of Women", to help the female survivors of war to rebuild their lives. The event is being held in collaboration with the English Theatre of Rome at Teatro Arciliuto, Piazza Montevecchio 5 near Piazza Navona, and takes place in concurrence with WfWI's "Join me on the Bridge" global campaign. Comprising "women's tales of survival and hope - film, short stories and poetry", the event will be followed by refreshments and song. The suggested donation is €20. For more details contact victoria.ericks@gmail.com, franchini.nicole@gmail.com or see the WfWI website.

Under the theme "I Fili di Arianna, Trame e visioni" a series of events is taking place in a number of the city’s cultural institutions from 7-9 March.

The municipal art gallery Sala S. Rita on Via Montanara 8 near the Campidoglio and the Casa della Memoria e della Storia in Trastevere host installations exploring various forms of female creativity, while the Oknit women's group plan to enliven the city's drab street furniture and trees with brightly-coloured knitting.

On 8 March at 18.00, the Casa della Letterature stages “Voci segreti”, poetry readings by Maria Luisa Spaziani and Gabriella Sica from the works of poets Antonia Pozzi and Daria Menicanti.

The Casa dei Teatri and Nuovo Cinema Aquila host screenings and readings emphasising women's cultural contribution and path to emancipation. For full details see city website.

At 11.15 on Saturday 9 March, the Professional Women Association of Rome (PWA) is holding a special “Thematic Walking Tour”, aimed at honouring women and discovering some of the greatest women in the history of Rome. The walk, which includes a brunch, begins at the Marco Aurelio statue on Capitol Hill.

The events in Rome follow the recent One Billion Rising campaign which was marked in the capital on 14 February with a series of flash mobs designed to draw awareness to the estimated one billion women on the planet raped or beaten during their lifetime.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of last year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, a group of women painted a mural on Via dei Sardi in the city's S. Lorenzo depicting the 107 women killed in Italy as a result of domestic violence between 1 January and 24 November 2012.