Same-Sex Sexual Assault Must Be Severely Punished To "Deter Potential Offenders".

A Chinese lawmaker has called for amendment to or judicial interpretation of the country's existing Criminal Law to severely punish those making sexual assaults on victims of the same sex.

"Same-sex sexual assaults seriously harm personal dignity and undermine social morality, but under the current criminal law the offenders often get away with light punishment," said Fan Yi, a deputy to the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, in its annual full session which opened here Monday.