Legalisation won't do that, sadly, unless it's accompanied by other measures. They tried it here in Germany, and it was quite a failure. Human trafficking is alive and kicking, and the number of sex workers who pay into social security is 44. The law was celebrated by feminists as protection for prostitutes, and it's now regarded a failure by more or less all political parties and sex workers themselves.
The main problem is that it was believed that just by legalising prostitution, all the crime and exploitation associated with pimps and brothels would disappear. But even with legal prostitution, it's still cheaper for brothel owners to find young women in Eastern Europe, tell them they can get a job as a household help in Germany, and then take their passport, lock them up, and force them into prostitution, rather than employ a woman who has rights to proper payment and fair treatment in the workplace and is aware of them.
Legalisation is still preferable to criminalisation in my opinion, but it's not a magical fix either, unless it's accompanied by strict control and investigation of the areas of the business where exploitation and forced prostitution take place.
Of course. Any measures to legalize prostitution would need to be accompanied by additional laws and regulations to protect sex workers and crack down on those who exploit the vulnerable and force them into prostitution.
The main problem is that it was believed that just by legalising prostitution, all the crime and exploitation associated with pimps and brothels would disappear. But even with legal prostitution, it's still cheaper for brothel owners to find young women in Eastern Europe, tell them they can get a job as a household help in Germany, and then take their passport, lock them up, and force them into prostitution, rather than employ a woman who has rights to proper payment and fair treatment in the workplace and is aware of them.
Legalisation is still preferable to criminalisation in my opinion, but it's not a magical fix either, unless it's accompanied by strict control and investigation of the areas of the business where exploitation and forced prostitution take place.
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