A woman whose husband lost his sexual abilities in an accident has been awarded 10,000 yuan in psychological damages by a court in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province.
The ruling, the first of its kind in China, represents a legal recognition of psychological compensation related to sex right, according to Wednesday's Beijing Morning Post.
In April last year, a man with the surname Zhang was injured by a reversing car. The accident also resulted in Zhang's suffering from erection dysfunction.
Zhang and his wife went to court, and the defendant agreed to paying for all the damages he sought, but rejected to pay the 10,000 yuan for psychological damages sought by Zhang's wife.
However, after a thorough review of the the case, the court held that sex was a human right and Zhang's wife was entitled to ask for psychological compensation for the violation of such a right.
The court ordered the defendant to pay Zhang a total of 109,207yuan in compensation and Zhang's wife 10,000 yuan for psychological damages.
(Xinhua News Agency Septembert 5, 2002)