If the addresses of victims of domestic violence or stalking become known to the perpetrators, it could lead to life-threatening situations. Local governments should take all possible measures to prevent the leakage of such information.
According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, there have been 63 cases in the past 10 years in which the addresses of victims of domestic violence and other crimes were made known to the perpetrators due to mistakes by municipalities. The number has notably increased in recent years, reaching 18 cases in fiscal 2019.
Since 2004, municipalities across the country have taken measures to bar perpetrators from viewing victims' residence certificates or family register documents, and to refuse requests from perpetrators to issue such certificates or documents, if victims apply for such protection. The annual number of victims whose applications for these measures have been approved has risen to about 138,000, about quadruple the number from 10 years ago.
A woman whose address was leaked to her former husband, who had physically abused her, told The Yomiuri Shimbun: "I almost felt more dead than alive. Because I didn't know when my ex-husband would show up." It is difficult to fully imagine her fear.
In 2012, the city government of Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, leaked the address of a female stalking victim to the perpetrator. He killed her the very next day.
The leakage of addresses can threaten the safety of victims. Some have been forced to move after their addresses became known to the perpetrators. Municipalities must recognize anew the significance of handling the personal information of victims.
Since 2014, the internal affairs ministry has issued six notices to municipalities urging them to thoroughly manage victims' personal information. It has instructed them to assign people to be in charge of information management and to have more than two staff members check applications for viewing victims' personal documents and the issuance of such documents, but the leakage of such information still continues.
It is said that many of the mistakes made by municipalities were simple, such as failing to confirm the identity of applicants. Many local governments may lack a sense of the seriousness of the situation. The central and prefectural governments should investigate the progress of municipal governments' efforts and instruct them to make improvements as needed.
In recent years, there have been an increasing number of cases in which addresses were exposed via certificates related to taxation and documents on child allowances, as well as residence certificates of victims, or family register documents. Every section that handles the personal information of victims must work to prevent the leakage of their information.
Municipal officials are transferred every few years. At the time of such personnel changes, sufficiently thorough handovers are needed. It would also be advisable for prefectural governments to organize training sessions for municipal officials in charge.
Many municipalities have systems that clearly indicate to officials that information belongs to a protected victim when they call it up on terminals of the Basic Resident Registration System. On the other hand, some local governments apparently still manage victims' personal information with paper documents.
The central government intends to review local government information systems over the next five years. Taking this opportunity, it is important to establish a system that can eliminate the leakage of information caused by human error as much as possible.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Nov. 20, 2020.
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