IndexTree types of theories to explain criminal processesIf victims are really innocent?ConclusionReferencesRelying on theories and research on victimology, I will explain the role of victims in influencing crime to Mauritius. In this essay the terms of precipitation, facilitation and provocation of the victim are also explained. To begin with, victimology is the science that studies victims. Victimology studies how someone becomes a victim, that is, how someone becomes prey to the offender. Victimology also studies the process, incidence, effects and prevalence of victimization. Victimology also studies how the criminal justice system assists victims and how society deals with crime. Victim is someone who has been harmed by some other act, i.e. someone who has been harmed or injured or has been the result of someone's action in one way or another such as in a crime, theft, accident, violence, mistreatment or from someone words. According to the Child Protection Act 1994 in Mauritius, "harm is defined as physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or moral harm, neglect, maltreatment, impairment of health or development". According to the UN, "a victim is defined as a person who, individually or collectively, has suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or a substantial violation of his or her fundamental rights, through acts or omissions of abuse of power ". In Mauritius, assistance is provided to victims such as psychological assistance. The identity of these victims must remain confidential, as much as possible, so that society does not re-victimize the victim, especially in cases of rape and sexual crimes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayTree types of theories to explain criminal processesWhen a crime is committed, the one who loses the most is the victim. For example, in the case of theft, it is the victim who steals the object or in the case of a sexual crime, it is the victim who has to endure the trauma throughout his life, thus affecting the victim's daily activity. In the case of students, victims are unable to progress in their studies, which reflects the negative effects in their lives. Furthermore, some victims are unable to obtain the desired justice because the perpetrator resorts to defenses that make them pay the minimum sentence. The offender often tells the police in his statement that it was the victim who provoked the offender to act. According to victimization theories, three types of theories have been developed. These are victim precipitation, victim facilitation and victim provocation. Victim precipitation is defined by how and to what extent the victim encouraged the offender to commit a crime. A common example that we can see more often in Mauritius is; a drunk man provokes a fight by using verbal insults or physical blows which results in a fight where the drunk man is beaten or injured during the fight. Therefore the drunk is the one who pushes the offender to commit the crime. Victim facilitation occurs when the victim unintentionally makes it easier for the offender to commit a crime. For example, due to the carelessness of a person who leaves his car without locking it in a place where car thefts have very often been reported, he is destined to have his car stolen. Victim provocation occurs when a person does something to incite another person to commit an illegal act. Without this no crime would have been committed. ToFor example, a woman walking alone at night in a high-crime area could be an easy target for theft and sexual assault. What if the victims are really innocent? Sometimes the victims' behavior and actions are mechanisms that encourage the offender to commit the crime. In my opinion the government should organize a campaign to raise awareness among the population about how thefts are committed and how the offender waits for such opportunities to commit the crime. if victims took proper precautions, the theft rate would decrease. According to Mauritius Crime, Justice and Security Statistics, in 2019 the theft rate per 1,000 inhabitants was 8.9 and in 2020 the rate was 8.5. although the rate decreased, the overall crime rate per 1000 population increased from 35.6 in 2019 to 43.8 in 2020. Victims play an important role in the criminal justice system as without the victim no crime would be reported. The main criminal justice system is the police. If a crime is committed, the first place the victim should go is the police. The police will take the victim's statement about the incident and the police will present the case to the court. The police will simply catch the accused and produce him in the court. The second criminal justice system is the court. It is the court that punishes. The punishment imposed by the court on the accused is based on the crime committed. The more serious the crime, the more severe the punishment for the accused. The court will study all evidence and witnesses presented to the court by the police. Based on the evidence the court will decide whether the accused is guilty or not. For the damage that the victim has suffered from the perpetrator of the crime, it is the court that will punish the perpetrator. Only the court can punish someone who has committed an illegal act and no one else can punish him. After the court decides the punishment and delivers the verdict, if the accused is innocent he will be free to go. But if the defendant is sentenced to prison, he will be sent to prison. The reason why a person is punished is to serve as an example to another person not to commit a crime. The third criminal justice system is prison. In prison the guilty are locked up until the end of their sentence. Statistics on crimes committed are available from the police, because the first place where a crime is reported is the police station. The problem is that no victim is willing to report a crime. For example, in cases of domestic violence, the wife would not like to report the husband but may instead seek the help of the police just to talk and reason or warn the husband but the case is not reported. Therefore such statistics are not always true. Some victims do not want to report the crime because they are afraid of how society will react. Some are not willing to go to court because of the time it takes the court to deliver justice. The statistics may also be false because several burglaries in a home can be counted as one count. In Mauritius the perpetrators of the crime, especially the sexual ones, are often those who are close to the victim. So they know the victim's behavior and know whether the victim would report the crime or not. Many times the victim does not report the crime in the first instance. But if the offender often commits the act, the victim under mental pressure may report the crime or commit suicide. Offenders know they won't have any problems if they act like one, that's why they committed the crime. Victims who are unable to report a crime because they are ashamed of what society will say often take drugs or may do so themselves begin to commit crimes. For example, a person who has, 99(1), 213-260.