Crime victims are persons harmed by criminal acts, as defined by law. Although most criminal violations have identifiable victims, some crimes are considered victimless crimes; these commonly comprise transactions conducted between willing participants who are interested in the exchange and do not consider themselves victims (e.g., gambling or prostitution in states that prohibit such activities). Victims include direct or primary victims who are persons directly harmed by the criminal act; secondary victims who are commonly family and friends of direct victims, and in some cases, first responders who attended to direct victims; and tertiary victims who are those exposed to the harm indirectly (e.g., as through media communications). Victimization includes physical, sexual, psychological, and financial harm, experienced in person, indirectly, or via the Internet. ...

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