I don't think they should.
Prostitution has been casualized by the media and by peers for goodness knows how long. We now apparently don't think it's a very bad thing. Well, prostitution hasn't changed. It's still a horrible industry that does unspeakable things to people. I could go on a rant about some of the more awful things that industry does to people. Yet.. my "Probably not called for on a Pokemon forum" lights are going off, so I'm just going to... not do that. Legalizing it will not stop criminals from feeling okay breaking the law. Those criminals need to be arrested, not given leg room in some fantastical hope that they'll suddenly feel okay with their lives and turn into upstanding citizens.
If you mean the women involved, they usually turn to it because they have no other way of getting money. Legalizing it would not change that, it would just impose a set of health standards and make sure the women are treated properly. It's a step in the right direction, but if you want to work at the
root of the problem, I'd recommend you become a social worker, because most of the women involved are pushed there through circumstances beyond their control. There's a reason they've turned to prostitution despite the risk of bodily harm and potential for criminal prosecution.
Furthermore, at the risk of seeming extremely harsh, people who go out doing the nasty with prostitutes should accept these risks before doing so and quite frankly, I don't feel any sympathy for them when they can get an STD. They should've exercised more control. They should've made better choices. All they have to blame is themselves.
I don't think they're looking for nor care about your sympathy, and nobody's asking you to fund their mistakes. However, if it was legalized and health standards were imposed, STD rates would almost certainly go down among both the women involved and those using their services.
The people that pay these criminal organizations are undeserving of your sympathy.
Like during prohibition, they are criminal because the practice is illegal. Take away the asinine laws prohibiting people to fairly exchange things that should rightfully be theirs to exchange and you will find that they will no longer be run by crime lords and pimps and instead by the women themselves (or potentially by a single matron who used to be a prostitute).
It's their darn fault through and through for doing something so /stupid/ and avoidable.
What's their fault? Getting an STD? They know the risks and they took them anyway, I don't think they're out looking for sympathy. Again, nobody's asking you to fund their mistakes.
If anything, you should be concerned about the prostitutes. Unlike the people that go to them, they are not often a clear case. Trafficking is more or less what made prostitution as huge as it is, not the other way around. Trafficking is also a huge, POWERFUL industry that our legal forces do not have the ability to control. Believe me, they try. Think about the implications of that.
If consensual prostitution was made legal, law forces would be able to divert a ton of their manpower toward trafficking. Much like if marijuana was made legal, law forces would be able to divert a ton of their manpower toward more dangerous drugs.
I'll make one thing clear. If we legalized prostitution, trafficking /would/ find a way to live on.
Of course it would. Imagine if consensual sex in general was prohibited. Instances of rape would almost certainly go up. Now if sex is legalized, would rape suddenly go away? Of course not, but I guarantee it would decrease dramatically.