A Tokyo assemblywoman subjected to sexist taunts by male colleagues last week said Tuesday the capital¡¯s legislative body needs to be reformed so that the voices of women can be heard.

¡°A local-level assembly like the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is not a friendly place for women to work, and it doesn¡¯t make use of women¡¯s dynamism,¡± Ayaka Shiomura, a member of Your Party, told a packed Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan in Tokyo.

Shiomura said it was important to increase the number of female lawmakers in order to make policies beneficial to women a reality.