Several cases of sexual harassment targeting men in August have attracted public's attention and prompted calls for expanding the regulation on sexual assaults to also include male victims.
Li Feng, a male writer, claimed on Monday on his Sina Weibo account that well-known writer and movie director Guo Jingming "had sexually harassed" him, adding that at least five other male employees working in Guo's company are also victims of sexual harassment.
Although Guo refuted the accusation on Monday and sued Li on Wednesday for "fabricating facts and slandering Guo's reputation," discussion of the issue continued, with most people calling for more complete legal protections for male victims of sexual harassment or rape.
Hong Daode, an expert on criminal lawsuits at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times that China's legislation might cover men as rape victims in the 10th amendment of the Criminal Law.
Apart from Guo's case, two other cases of men claiming to be sexually assaulted also happened in August.
"Sexual harassment of men is not regarded as rape but only molestation in the current criminal law. Rape victims are only defined as women or teenage girls, and not even teenage boys," said Hong.
Hong also noted that punishments for molestation is not as severe as that for rape. The punishment for rape ranges from a minimum three-year jail term to death sentence, while for molestation it ranges from 10-day detention to five years in jail.
An investigative report on teenage behavior in South China's Guangdong Province in 2013 shows that the number of male rape victims was 2.2 to 2.3 times that of female victims and male victims seemed to be increasing in China, according to the jcrb.com report.
Hong mentioned that male victims in the past were not brave enough to speak out or call police for help but rather chose to keep silent, so people do not know much about the crimes.
He added that men and women are equal in terms of sex assault and that male victims should keep evidence and call police immediately if they are assaulted.
