I don't see it mentioned in the article but sicanje became especially significant during the Ottoman rule (15th-19th centuries) particularly for Catholic women in (today's) Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dalmatian hinterland. The practice served to make women 'less attractive' to Ottoman beys, thereby protecting them from kidnapping and rape, while simultaneously symbolizing their religious identity and resistance. Christian women in the region at the time faced the threat of abduction and forced conversion. It is told they also practiced scarification (secenje/sicanje) for the same reason at the time. So yeah, it symbolizes protection but it started with the intention to protect women from rape, harassment and abuse, and these tattoos are possibly still viewed with disdain by non-Christian communities in the region.
