A group of activists against sexual violence on Tuesday brought a petition with more than 136,000 signatures to the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to protest comments by a lawmaker claiming women sometimes lie about being victims of sex crimes.
But the LDP refused to accept the petition submitted by organizers of the Flower Demo movement in protest over the comments by Mio Sugita, a member of the LDP in the House of Representatives.
Sugita told a party meeting late last month covering a government assistance program for sexual violence victims that "women are able to tell lies as much as they want."