[CCIP]

The whole issue of prostitution is a complicated one, just like the control of certain drugs. Both can be used without any consequences to the public, and by choice from all the parties involved. On the other hand, both are tied up in the black market and organized crime with all their nasty consequences, including human trafficking and other terrible stuff.

The real problem, from my perspective, is that states always want to take on drugs and prostitution, but don't want to take on organized crime - perhaps for ulterior motives, because after all the shadow economy and politics are not all that separate from their public counterparts. So IMO both the 'war on drugs' and 'war on prostitution' that target the on-the-street dealers/prostitutes and their clients are massively misguided. They'll never succeed and in fact will only end up ruining lives of more people - people who maybe weren't ruining anyone's life in the first place by engaging in prostitution or drugs by conscious choice. On the other hand, these wars shoot up the prices of drugs and prostitutes services, which benefit mobsters and force prostitutes and drug users alike to turn to forces outside the law to satisfy their needs.

Just as with drugs, I don't think outlawing prostitution will ever actually eliminate prostitution.