entitled "Would legalizing prostitution benefit sex trade workers or exploit women?"

Maybe we should all vote and show them how we feel.....

Prostitution is already legal in most of the non muslim world and has been for a very long time, and it works just fine in these countries TYVM.

Excessive regulation is not necessary for legalized prostitution to thrive, try looking at some of the countries where it works. I am in one of them at this very moment. Costa Rica, where prostitution is legal, but pimping and trafficking is illegal, It's been working just fine down here for decades.

It's a rather simple concept, any human being should be free to do what they want with their own body and forced labor , or human trafficking of any kind should be illegal, not just for sex workers,.

Prostitution is ripe for exploitation, so any legalizing needs to come hand in hand with a strong regulatory structure. Germany is currently dealing with an explosion of hooker horror stories due to legalizing prostitution without establishing any regulations or special legal protections for sex workers. It's resulted in just making it incredibly hard to prosecute pimps and traffickers. Women from eastern Europe are trucked in, made to work around the clock for a pittance and dumped when they physically can't perform anymore. In this situation, the traffickers aren't doing anything illegal because the women can "just leave if they want" (yeah, right).

try to get a BBBJ in a Nevada brothel, it aint gonna happen.  and there prices are outrageous.

This is a big exaggeration, yes there are many Eastern European girls going there. The reason 'traffickers' and 'pimps' are difficult to prosecute, is because the girls usually address them as 'boyfriend'. There definitely are darker sides to this scene, but not even close to the numbers and extremes that get thrown around in the media. People can't conceive having sex for (relatively little) money, so something must be wrong... there is little public demand for actual proof and the other side often prefers to remain outside the public eye. Simple reason why there are so many girls there: they make more in a day than in a month back home (even if they only make 40 bucks on a single client)

but given the OP's binary question, the answer is both. Legalization should be done in a way that empowers the prostitutes and not the pimps. Germany IS a bad example for that - they pretty much just opened the doors for people to do what they want without establishing some kind of regime to help those who need it.

We all know the truth:  The brothels are terrible places.  You have to drive or be limo'd out abut 90 minutes into the desert.  Once you're there, you find out how unattractive most of the women are--but you feel "committed" already, since you've driven so far.  Once you find the least unattractive linebacker of your choice, it's up to her room, where you get hit with the up-sells.

You can have a FAR better experience sticking with the talent indigenous to the Strip (downtown, Green Valley, Red Rock, etc) as long as you stick with well-reviewed TER indies.

Germany's problems are Germany's, just like Nevada's are specific to only that one state. In the overwhelming majority of the rest of the non muslim world,  Legalized prostitution works just fine, WITHOUT the problems you cite in Germany. I can think of a dozen different countries I have been to, just in the last couple of years where a legalized hobby works just fine.

There is a very simple solution to the problem, legalize prostitution, keep the laws against pimping and trafficking on the books, and then ENFORCE those laws.

as everything is the US.  Just see Nevada.

I've been on The Strip for about a week and have met (and bedded) some absolutely awesome local talent.  All TER reviewed.  To me, one legit 10/10 and two 9/9s.  Of course, one of the latter didn't tell me about her TER reviews but I'd met her at a party and knew she was hot.  I did not know about her menu, but it was wonderful.
Viva Las Vegas!

I work in Australia currently where it's legal in some parts and decriminalised in most parts. It's really very open and easy to hobby here and there are laws against exploitation and trafficking. In Canberra girls are registered, pay tax, have police protection and anti discrimination laws. I can advertise in the local newspaper, I don't have to screen, it's safe and nice.
Really as it should be everywhere I'm kind of nervous about coming over there as it's so different.

END OF MESSAGE

Does the law benefit the provider (example) you can't be denied housing simply because you are a provider?

 
or does the law benefit the customer (example) you can't deny RidgeTucky service simply because he's RidgeTucky?

 
I'm assuming it's the first one.

You are oversimplifying. Do you really think there are no laws against trafficking and pimping in Germany? Off course there are, but it is damn near impossible to prosecute anyone if the girls in question refuse to cooperate. There are plenty police/tax check ups, that just don't lead to any reason to prosecute (just yesterday in a saunaclub near Krefeld).

As of 'letting anyone in', try telling that to Belorussian or Ukrainian girls. They'll tell you a different story. It is true that Germany is part of the EU, as are countries like Romania and Bulgaria... this means people from those countries are allowed to work 'normally' in Germany (and since January 2014, also in the UK and the Netherlands). Since prostitution is a 'normal' profession, they are also allowed to work as prostitutes. Not German law, but EU law. I've spoken to more than one Moldovan that got to work because of her 'fake' Romanian passport (some corruption there).

Enforcing laws is almost impossible, because girls don't want to press charges (believe me, LEO  have tried). Whether this is because of a lack of trust in LEO (from experiences back home), being scared of 'pimps' or because nothing is wrong is difficult to determine. In the Netherlands they have tried multiple times to get something done, but rounding up all the girls from a red light district (200+) and interviewing them/offering a way out... led to absolutely nothing. They only talk about 'indications of trafficking/pimping', because so very few girls want to cooperate. So anytime you hear about this, they are going on very indirect 'indications' like how much time the girls works and whether she has friends there (etc. etc.)

Bottom line, there are enforceable laws in all these countries; it is just difficult to charge anyone if the 'victims' don't want to cooperate.