Every woman carries the courage that she should and must find in herself, said Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic on the occasion of the unveiling of a sculpture dedicated to women’s courage by artist Marko Ladjusic on the plateau in front of the Usce Center, created as part of Avon’s Say No to Violence Against Women campaign.

Just like the streets, monuments in Belgrade are mostly named by men, while famous women from our history are much lesser represented. Therefore, posting a sculpture of women’s courage in a place where thousands of people come daily has the same goal as our initiative addressed to city authorities for naming streets and squares after women who have contributed to our culture, science and art and whose names are missing, Commissioner said. This sculpture sends the message that no one has the right to restrict a woman’s freedom, ambition, to be violent towards her, to even kill her, just because she is a woman, Jankovic emphasized.

The sculptor and professor Ladjusic said that he found inspiration for the sculpture in the women he loves and works with, and Miroslava Marjanovic Pavlovic, director of Avon for the Adriatic region and Nevena Martinovic of TPC Usce also spoke at the event.