Wang Xiaoying / China Daily

A draft amendment to the criminal law to revise the definition of sexual assault from "indecent acts toward women and children" to "indecent acts toward others" has gained widespread attention, as many see it as an extension of justice to protect males, who could also be victims of "indecent acts", jcrb.com reported on Monday.

Jia Jian, a legal expert with Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said similar amendments should be made to "rape victims", which should not just refer to women. Jia suggested that the gender-neutral term "others" replace "women" and "children" replace "girls" in the definition of rape victims.

It is a societal expectation that victims of rape are women. However, men can also be rape victims.

It has become increasingly common to recognize that in China, men can also be victims of sexual assault, and there have been many reports of male-on-male sexual assault and rape in recent years. However, these victims cannot turn to the criminal law for help because their cases don't fit the legal definition of rape.

Furthermore, teenage boys between the ages of 14 and 18 have been involved in sexual assault and rape cases by their teachers, and there is no law to protect such boys or to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Related: It's time rape laws cover male victims

The notion that men could be victimized by sexual assault is foreign to many in China, but sporadic reporting of such cases proves the legal codes must be amended

In the wee hours of March 18, 2009, three young men, who were drunk, found themselves outside a local hospital in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. Chen Cong and Xu Jian spotted Li Ming dozing off by a pond after he had been binge drinking with his buddies.

After the two woke him, a squabble ensued. The two ended up beating Li and mugging him of 19 yuan, which is all he had on him. Almost as an afterthought, they took turns raping him.

Fortunately, a taxi driver witnessed the incident, which took place outdoors and lasted half an hour, and alerted the police.

The police, however, said they had never seen anything like this before and were divided: one group insisted the violent act was rape while the other argued it did not fit the legal description of rape.

Eventually, prosecutors said they would charge Chen and Xu with physical assault and mugging, but not rape. The reason? They said China's Criminal Law only specifies that a female could be the victim of a sexual assault.

Consequently, a suspect who allegedly sexually assaults a man is often prosecuted for other crimes. Assault and battery is probably the most common charge because they tend to occur with raping. This, in turn, gives rise to the gallows humor that, if the victim does not struggle during the process and consequently is not injured, there are no grounds for prosecution.

If the victim is under 14, gender does not matter because he is legally a minor and the case would be prosecuted as a sexual assault on a minor.