BEIJING - The sexual assault of men, which was not previously listed as an offense under Chinese law, is now a crime after an amendment to the Criminal Law took effect on Sunday.

The amendment, adopted by the top legislature in August, stipulates that indecent assault on others, men or women, now carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison. In the former law, the clause "others" was "women."

Up until now, it was difficult to file cases involving male sexual assault

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.

In a case in Luzhou of Sichuan province last year, a man was robbed and raped by another man. The attacker was never charged for sexual assault, according to media reports.

In addition, the revised law repealed the crime of sex with underage prostitutes and reclassified it as rape.

Under the previous law, people who have sex with prostitutes less than 14 years old face a maximum of 15 years in prison, while those convicted of raping a child may face the death sentence.