Determining A Victim
The victim in "victimless" is inherently controversial. Laws are often purportedly intended to protect at least some people, so a criminal act is usually claimed by someone to cause someone or a group of people to be adversely affected to some degree, however abstract. There are four widely acknowledged distinct possible meanings of the term "victimless".
First, consensual crimes with (arguably) no material harm (such as sodomy laws in the United States, prior to Lawrence v. Texas).
Second, crimes in which the damage caused is overwhelmingly borne by the perpetrator, such as suicide or drug use. As the perpetrator has chosen to suffer the effects of these crimes, they are not a "victim" in the normal sense.
Third, crimes in which the cost is borne by an abstract society or group of people, without a clear, direct victim. This could be applied to driving without auto insurance (where mandated by law).
Fourth are crimes against non-"victims," or non-human entities, such as governments. These are victimless not because no harm occurs, but because the recipient of the harm is not properly considered a "victim." This is thus a question of the definition of victim, rather than a question of the effects of the crime.
Read more about this topic: Victimless Crime
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