Victim facilitation, victim precipitation, and victim provocation are terms used to describe the impact a victim has on a situation which labels him/her as a victim. Victim facilitation describes a situation where the negligent behavior of the victim makes it easier for the offender to commit a crime. The victim is partly to blame for a crime in a situation of victim facilitation. For instance; if a person leaves his house unlocked while he is away this may be classified as an instance of victim facilitation.
Victim precipitation and provocation have a similar definition. In situations where the victim contributes towards the act to be carried out against him would be a scenario of victim precipitation or provocation. For instance; if a person decides to rob another robber with a toy gun, but, unfortunately, gets shot by the robber during the robbery then this will be victim precipitation and is similar to the notion of self-defense. Where on one hand, victim facilitation is due to the negligence of the victim, on the other hand, victim precipitation is when the victimized individual is himself involved in an illegal act.
An example of victim provocation will be the July 3rd shooting of Alim Abdul Ghafoor. It was when Abdul Ghafoor resisted giving up his belongings to Latham that he was shot by the offender. Latham is charged with various other offences and crimes. As there is little public evidence, it cannot be concluded whether Latham shot Abdul Ghafoor point blank or if the two fought and the gun triggered during the struggle. This can be considered as a situation where Abdul Ghafoor tried to protect himself and his belongings and was shot in the process and also a prime example of victim provocation (Wichert, 2016).
References
Wichert B. (2016, February 1). Newark man pleads not guilty to charges of killing man during a robbery. Retrieved February 02, 2016, from http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/02/newark_man_pleads_not_guilty_to_charges_of_killing.html
