China criminalises sexual assault against men

On 1 November, China amended its law that criminalises 'sexual assault on others' to include men as victims.

The amendment adopted in August, by the top legislature of the country, stipulates a five year prison term for an indecent assault on others, men or women. Earlier the 'other' in the law just meant 'women'.

A large number of cases of sexual assault against men in China in the past have been ignored as the criminal law did not previously recognise the rape of a male as a crime.

In 2010, a security guard sexually abused his male colleague in the employee dormitory. Instead of being charged with sexual assault, the offender was convicted on the lesser charge of intentional injury and sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The revised law also reclassified crime of sex with underage prostitutes as rape. Under the previous law, sex with prostitutes under 14 years could lead to a maximum of 15 years in prison, while those convicted of raping a child may face the death sentence.