About VST
Welcome to Victim Support Taiwan (VST). I’m I-Min Hsiao, the founder.
Through years of involvement in Taiwan’s judicial reform and human rights advocacy, I’ve realized that advancing victim support takes more than frontline casework—it also requires a solid theoretical foundation and sustained international collaboration.
1. A Public Knowledge Platform for Victims’ Rights
In Taiwan, discussions of victims’ rights can easily drift into emotional appeals or identity-based conflict. This is partly because we lack a strong shared base of public knowledge—making it harder to see the broader picture beyond individual cases, or to understand the real differences between competing viewpoints.
VST is committed to building a citable, searchable, and sustainable public knowledge platform. By curating content through key portals—Taiwan Practice, Global Views, Research Updates, and Commentary—we aim to support research, meaningful discussion, and public understanding of victims’ rights.
2. Bridging Taiwan and the World
The international community has developed rich normative frameworks for victims’ rights, and Taiwan’s own system continues to evolve. VST strives to serve as a bridge connecting Taiwan with the global community in the field of victim support.
We want international experience to inform Taiwan’s institutional development. We also want Taiwan’s practice to be visible internationally. Looking ahead, we hope Taiwan will become an active and indispensable contributor to global efforts to strengthen victims’ rights.
3. Independent, Bilingual, and Nonprofit
VST believes that rational, sustained knowledge-building is one of the most reliable engines of institutional progress. Our platform operates on three core principles: Independent, Bilingual, and Nonprofit.
To strengthen transparency and public trust, VST maintains the following policies and guidelines:
4. Join the VST Network
VST’s core belief is:
To stand with victims is to stand with justice.
We believe victims’ rights are universal and inalienable; the State bears responsibility to ensure effective remedies; and victims have the agency to understand their circumstances, assert their rights, and shape institutions. For a fuller discussion, please refer to Rethinking Victims: Definition, Rights, Accountability, and Myths.
If you share these values, wherever you are, I warmly invite you to connect with me. Let’s research, discuss, and work together to advance justice and rights.
About Founder
I-Min Hsiao brings over 20 years of experience in non-governmental organization (NGO) practices and public policy advocacy, with a steadfast commitment to judicial reform, human rights protection, and the institutional development of victims’ rights in Taiwan. He currently serves as the Deputy CEO of the Association for Victims Support (AVS) and is the Founder of Victim Support Taiwan (VST). For his full curriculum vitae, please refer to CV｜I-Min Hsiao.
