https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/29/521971468/in...

Both those nations also have legalized sex work too.

Australia has it better. Most waitstaff I know are on at least $20 per hour, with penalty rates for working after 10pm or working on Sunday.

Ideas like a mandatory "living wage", that while possibly well-intended, amount to coercive impositions that are rationalized by dogmatic self-righteousness, and end up having pretty severe negative unintended consequences.

They're in the same class of laws as those prohibiting prostitution and drug-use.

1) A worker in a restaurant has legal recourse if treated unlawfully in any way.

2) A worker in a restaurant can start their own restaurant to compete with their employer any time they like.

3) A worker in a restaurant is free to leave for a better paying job anytime they want.

4) A worker in a restaurant can disclose poor treatment to the press if they want.

Alternatively...

1) A sex worker often has no legal recourse without risking their life.

2) A sex worker often cant compete with their employer without risking their life.

3) A sex worker often cant leave their pimp without risking their life.

4) A sex worker can't disclose poor treatment to the press without risking their life.

See the difference?

You can’t “solve” human trafficking by attacking sex workers.

As is so often the case, the opinions missing from these debates are those of prostitutes themselves.