The current address of a victim of domestic violence in Tokyo's Meguro Ward was mistakenly sent to her abuser last year due to the mishandling of a tax matter, a ward assembly member revealed on Tuesday.
Independent assembly member Ai Shirakawa raised the matter which occurred in September last year at Tuesday's regular meeting, which Mayor Eiji Aoki confirmed while offering an apology. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and burden we have caused her," he said.
According to the ward office and Shirakawa, the man included the names and My Number identifications of the woman and two other dependents on his tax return submitted to the Meguro tax office in March last year. However, because one of the ID numbers was erroneous, the ward office sent a document in the following September to the man requesting that he check and amend the information.
However, the address where the woman had moved -- and was supposed to be strictly confidential -- was included on the document.
The man went to the women's home, forcing her to seek temporary refuge before eventually moving again. Meguro Ward was informed of the fact by the woman through the local government where she lived and, in addition to apologizing, paid her moving expenses and provided living expenses for a while.
The ward said that the problem stemmed from not properly grasping the fact that her personal information was subject to limited access because she was a victim of domestic violence.
As for why the information leak had not previously been made public, the ward's tax affairs section said, "We thought it best that once the matter was settled with the victim, we would take the appropriate action upon confirming how she wanted to proceed."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
