How did the 1977 additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions expand protections against sexual violence?

The 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions significantly expanded protections against sexual violence, particularly by addressing gaps in the legal coverage of internal conflicts.1

While the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War already included language protecting women against rape and indecent assault, these protections were notably strengthened and broadened in 1977. Specifically, Protocol II, which extended human rights protections to persons involved in severe civil conflicts, explicitly prohibited "outrages on the personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault".21

By codifying these prohibitions within the context of non-international armed conflicts, the 1977 protocol provided a vital legal framework to address sexual violence as a violation of human dignity, helping to pave the way for later international efforts to prosecute such acts as war crimes and crimes against humanity.12