王吉娜實習日誌07: 受害者援助

受害者援助

    今天上午，我們拜訪了「台灣受害者保護協會」（Victim Support Taiwan）的創始人蕭逸民（I-Min Hsiao）先生；該協會是由法務部設立的非營利組織。蕭先生是何先生（Mr. He）的老朋友，他安排我和伊麗莎白（Elizabeth）每週去他那裡實習一次，以便我們更深入地了解被害人保護工作。他向我們解釋道，在刑事案件中，被害人是指因犯罪行為而直接遭受經濟、身體或精神傷害的人；「次級被害人」是指因與被害人的關係而遭受經濟或精神傷害的人；而證人則是目擊了犯罪事件的人。被害人保護協會通常致力於為被害人及其親屬提供心理諮商以及心理和經濟方面的支持。

    今天，我們旁聽了蕭先生與一對父母的談話，這起案件備受關注：一名國中男生遭人刺傷，胸部、頸部和背部連中七刀身亡。行凶者是另一名同齡男孩，儘管台灣明令禁止攜帶刀械槍支，但他卻有攜帶刀具上學的記錄。案件的共犯是一名同齡女生，她曾與被害人在教室發生爭執，並教唆行凶者攻擊被害人。

    這起案件引發了廣泛關注，促使許多台灣民眾開始深入探討校園安全措施缺失的問題，同時也引發了關於「加強安保措施是否會侵犯個人權利與隱私」的討論。身處那個房間，切身感受到那對父母所承受的巨大痛苦，心情十分沉重；出於對受害者家庭隱私的尊重，我不便透露談話的具體細節，但我深感有必要對這起案件的分量進行反思。

Victim Support

    This morning we met with I-Min Hsiao (蕭逸民), founder of Victim Support Taiwan, and member of the non-profit Association for Victims Support established by the Ministry of Justice. Mr. Hsiao is an old friend of Mr. He, and has offered me and Elizabeth to intern with him once a week to learn more about victim support. He explained to us that in a court case, the victim is someone who directly experiences fiscal, physical, and mental harms from a criminal act. Secondary victims are those who experience fiscal or mental harm due to their relationship with the victim, and witnesses are those who have observed the criminal event. Victim support associations usually tend to offer counseling as well as mental and fiscal support for the victims and their loved ones. We observed a talk today between Mr. Hsiao and the parents of a famous court case where a middle school boy was stabbed to death by seven cuts to the chest, neck, and back. The perpetrator is another boy around the same age, who has had a history of carrying a knife to school despite knives and guns being banned in Taiwan. His accomplice was a girl the same age who had a dispute with the victim in a classroom, and she incited the perpetrator to attack the victim. This became a big case, as it made many Taiwanese start to further discuss the lack of campus safety measures, or is more security a threat to people’s rights and privacy? It was difficult to sit there in that room and feel the pain the parents must be in, and I’m not sure how much more I can share what was spoken in that room to maintain the family’s privacy, but I felt that I had to reflect on the weight of this case.