The faces of some of the world's most powerful women looked out from posters lining the streets of Milan, Italy. But instead of featuring smiling faces, they had black eyes, split lips and gashes on their noses.

These images of Michelle Obama, Brigitte Macron, Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Aung San Suu Kyi, Sonia Gandhi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's battered faces are part of a campaign called 'Just because I am a woman,' after the Dolly Parton song with the same name.  

The campaign was organized by AleXsandro Palombo, an artist and feminist, to raise awareness of violence against women. "I chose these women because they represent accomplished and committed women ... and they are symbolic in the fight for gender equality," Palombo told CGTN Europe.

He added that he was motivated to create these images after he heard the president of Brazil had mocked the appearance of Brigitte Macron, the wife of French president Emmanuel Macron, saying she wasn't as attractive as his wife.

"I was shocked," Palombo said. "This repeated violence involving female members of politics shows that there is no safe place free from gender violence and deserves deep reflection from all of us because we are still very far from resolving this issue and far from gender equality."

He added: "Violence against women is a real war that kills tens of thousands of women around the world every year. It is a crime against humanity, a violation of human rights in the public and private spheres that affects all women just because they are women. As of today, the governments responses are still insufficient."

This is further expressed in a the sentence that is strapped across the bottom of each poster. It reads: "Violence against women is a global issue that touches everyone, without distinction of race, class or religion." The posters also state: "I'm a victim of domestic abuse. I am paid less. I do not have the right to dress as I want. I can't decide who I'm going to marry. I was raped."

Palombo is known for taking iconic pop-culture characters and twisting them to make political statements. In 2014, he created a campaign called "I Can't Breathe." The name was a reference to the death of Eric Garner, a black man who was killed by the police in the U.S. in 2014. 

In this campaign, the cartoon family The Simpsons are depicted protesting against police violence in the U.S.. In another series, Disney princes hold up images of their fictional spouses with the word "coward" over their faces. The faces of these beloved characters, like the faces of the famous political figures, are bruised and bloody.

Palombo said he chose to write these captions in English because it is a global language, and "my work is global."

He also launched a campaign called #BriefMessage to mark International Women's Day in 2015. During this campaign, he asked women to write messages on their undergarments and post them on social media to denounce violence against women.