This article could have been better written, mainly by not writing it from such an incensed position (former child prostitute? While I regret that the author went through such a thing, the call to make sex work legal would hardly have made her experiences legal).<p>The latter half of the article is more substantive, actually pointing out how various approaches have fared around the world. But even this is poorly reasoned and seems to believe we'll agree that the sex trade is just bad out of hand.<p>The bits of Germany having "mega-brothels" or that New Zealand is seeing an industry of "sex tourism" are hardly indictments from where I stand. If those trades are legal and all involved are willful participants working for a livable wage, what's the problem?<p>If that's the case in New Zealand and Germany, then I'd say both laws are working as intended.<p>The goal of legalizing the sex trade is to prevent situations like the author's from happening. A byproduct of that is likely to be a thriving - but legal - sex trade where hopefully everyone is treated as a human being.