Rape against men is now a criminal act in China and carries a minimum sentence of five years imprisonment. Previously China only recognised sexual assault against women as a crime, a problem that has had a great impact on the LGBT community says Professor Zhang Beichuan of Qingdao University, who specialises in LGBT issues. Beichuan surveyed 2,000 gay Chinese men in 2013 and said 9.8% reported they had been raped by another man. Previous cases in which attackers were not punished for sexual assaults against men include the assault of a male security guard in 2010. The attacker who was a colleague of the man was convicted on a lesser charger of intentional injury and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.