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.