However, pimping, brothels and buying sexual services is illegal.

What does that mean ? A prostitute can just finger a client to the police as a client and the client gets arrested ?

It's a way of making prostitution illegal without making the prostitute the one taking the risk. That way a prostitute can report an assault, without fear of recrimination.

Also, yes, the punter is taking a bigger risk and therefore less likely to engage such services.

Can I put drugs in it? Kill myself? Decide when is fetus is/ins't "my" body?

It might be your body, but it's not your country. Have sex with whoever you like, but as soon as you charge for it, it's a business.

Yes, Yes and Yes. It is your body and my personal moral compass tells me it is absolutely wrong to tell another person what they can or can't do with their own body just because of someone else's view on morality.

> It might be your body, but it's not your country. Have sex with whoever you like, but as soon as you charge for it, it's a business.

Whose country is it then?

And if my compass differs, is it also wrong to tell me what I can't do to protect the body of a foetus?

> Whose country is it then?

Everyone's, as administered by a democratic government. Try running a business without paying taxes, or abiding by business regulations.

People are forced to do it and when they start is hard to end. Goverments should have something to say as they are to protect people and being a prostitute is not a solution for lack of education or money.

What about the people who have to work in McDonalds? Should the government also ban those jobs, where staff are around dangerous hot cooking equipment, rude customers, rude management, dangerous spills that could make them fall? It's a hard life and people have to make money. By criminalising an industry you are preventing people who don't share your own ethical beliefs from making a living. And sex pays a hell of a lot better than McDonalds and has better working hours. Just because people (government) thinks (and it is "thinks" not knows) that sex is unethical and dirty does not make it true.

Also while people may believe that no one wants to be a prostitute that's simply not the case. There is a great deal of people who enjoy it or at a very minimum see it as a legitimate way to make money. You (and government) have to be very careful that they don't enforce their own ethics and policies on people unless it is absolutely necessary (e.g. rape, killing, etc)

That's the problem. Drug dealing also pays a lot, I don't think that should be legalized either.

Well that's presumptuous, patronizing, and paternal.

Frankly, I find it remarkable that this article paints this woman as some sort of representative for all prostitutes. Funny they didn't write an article about her back when she was pro-legalization. But I suppose that's a less interesting story

This is one person, with one opinion, based on experiences with one, arguably broken, decriminalization regime.

New Zealand sounds like a great place to learn lessons about legalizing prostitution. I think it's a mistake to assume that lesson is that it doesn't work, particularly given the known issues with abolition.

Prostitution has always existed and will continue to exist for as long as one needs money to buy food. Religion, morality, ethics or laws be damned.

Agreed. So let's give them the same legal protections we give every other person.