The country's first male sexual health center with the authority to issue medical reports for legal cases involving injuries, divorce and rape recently opened its doors in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province.

The center, a department of Nanjing's Jinling Andrology Hospital, earned the right to issue official appraisals after five years working with male sexual health issues, said Ma Jintao, the center's vice-director.

He added that the center's medical reports primarily focused on men's sexual capabilities.

"About 70 to 80 percent of the people we examine have injuries that affect their sexual performance and are negotiating compensation. Ten percent are looking to prove impotence for the purposes of divorce, and there are also a few facing rape charges," Ma said.

In one case, police brought in a man who had been accused of raping a woman. However, the man claimed he was impotent and therefore incapable of raping someone.

The appraisal, which involved three continuous nights of tests, eventually vindicated the man.

In another case, an angry man came to the center after learning that his wife had told people he was impotent and that she wanted a divorce. To save face, he demanded a virility test.

When a test proved him right, he distributed copies of the results to his friends.

And in 2001, a woman whose husband had allegedly lost his ability to perform sexually after injuring his leg in a car accident came to the center for evidence to use against the other driver in a lawsuit.

She wanted to be compensated for the mental suffering caused by her husband's impotence, which she claimed had disrupted their lives.

A report proved that the husband's injury had damaged his sexual functions and the woman was compensated 10,000 yuan (about US$1,300). She was the first person in the country to recover losses for being deprived of the ability to maintain a normal sex life.

But not everyone is brave enough to demand compensation for such problems, and many people are unaware that they might have an opportunity to do so, said Xu Yuancheng, the center's director.

"Accidents and injuries cost many men their ability to perform sexually, but only about 5 percent of them bother to claim compensation," Xu said.

"Most are unaware that they could claim money for such a loss, and many of those who know feel ashamed to do so."

(China Daily April 6, 2007)