Dehumanisation

The following description is about this artwork by jenny holtzer. Does "dehumanisation" here mean "cruelty"?

Context:

A similar device was employed, with a similar message of abuse and dehumanisation, by Jenny Holzer in her Lustmord (‘sex murder’) series (1993). In this case, the inscription on the skin refers to the violent abuses to women in the war in Bosnia told from three points of view: the victim’s, the perpetrator’s and observer’s. The messages were written in ink on different parts of women’s bodies and initially published in a German magazine, Süddeutsche Zeitung.