ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the concept of scandal as it relates to sex trafficking. It argues that sex trafficking scandals constitute a subset of sex scandals which has its own logic and shows that sex trafficking’s power to scandalize is rooted in the space between fact and fiction. The chapter attempts to initiate sex trafficking scandals in the United States, the 2009 American Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) scandal and the 2016 Pizzagate conspiracy theory, to make the case that scandal is an important, if under-utilized, framework for understanding sex trafficking claims, particularly in the United States. It discusses the importance of scandal to political communication more generally. In the pre-digital era, breaking a scandalous story conferred a measure of success on a journalist or news organization. The 2009 ACORN sting is one example in a long history of strategic efforts to scandalize institutions, organizations, and political figures by associating them with sex trafficking.
