Work, Violence, or Both? Framing the Sex Trade and Setting an Agenda for Justice

This paper examines the feminist debate over the sex trade. It highlights two primary sets of activists and their creation of opposing frames and policy agendas. The paper briefly describes how each side has socially constructed issues pertaining to the sex trade industry. The paper draws upon Benford and Snow's (2000) conceptions of framing processes to identify how each group has accomplished core framing tasks in pursuit of a specific policy agenda. Utilizing notions of master frames, framing resonance, and frame credibility, the essay explores each group's successes and challenges in setting the desired agenda. Finally, the author applies Kingden's (1995) "criteria for survival" and Nelson's (1987) notions of valence and position issues to analyze the context in which each group has met with success or resistance.