Chinese gay rights activists called for the country's first anti-domestic violence law, which took effect on Tuesday, to include those in same-sex relationships, as the law stipulates that both unmarried cohabitants and married couples should be protected.

The law passed in late December 2015 states that any form of domestic violence, including psychological abuse, is prohibited, even among unmarried cohabitants.

Amid questions about whether the law considers same-sex couples to be unmarried cohabitants, Guo Linmao, a legislative official from the National People's Congress Standing Committee's legal affairs commission, said in December that he had never heard of any case of domestic violence in gay relationships and that same-sex relationships are therefore not covered by the law.

Many gay rights activists claimed that the new law may discriminate against gay people. Xiao Tie, executive director of the Beijing LGBT Center, told the Global Times, "Statistics show LGBT groups account for between 3 and 10 percent of the whole population, so the anti-domestic violence law should consider their rights and include them under protection."

"We will encourage and help gay victims of domestic violence to file lawsuits promoting the inclusion of same-sex couples in the juridical practice of the anti-domestic violence law," Hu Zhijun, the founder of Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) of China, told the Global Times. 

Hu previously slammed Guo's response in an article published on PFLAG China's official WeChat account, saying that many gay people have suffered from domestic violence but must find a way to help themselves, as they are offered no legal protection.

"Why can't gay couples who live together be defined as cohabitants if the Marriage Law does not allow them to register as couples?" he asked.

"This is another kind of domestic violence that legislators have imposed on same-sex lovers," he said.

In a 2014 survey of domestic violence among lesbians by Common Language - an NGO dedicated to supporting lesbians and bisexuals - 68.97 percent of 419 respondents reported that they had suffered domestic violence, and 49.16 percent said they have been abused by their parents. A total of 42.64 percent of the 401 respondents that had been in gay relationships said they had suffered abuse from a partner.

Separately, the court of Beijing's Fangshan district became the first court to approve a protection writ based on the new law with a ruling in the case of a 61-year-old woman surnamed Gu, who has been beaten by her husband for over 30 years, the Beijing-based Legal Mirror reported Tuesday.