Should Prostitution Be Legal or Not? Read What Commenters Have Said

I got these two comments from Ebuka’s post below. The 1st anon thinks prostitution should be illegal with valid reasons, while the 2nd anon believes that if prostitution was legal, it would have reduced the defiling of minors and stopped men from raping women. Read their comments and let’s know who you think is right.
1st Anon: I hope to hell he is joking.
It’s not even based on religion at all. There are public policy reasons as to why prostitution is and should be illegal. Sometimes laws are put in place to protect people in marginalized groups, people who are weak, people who are susceptible to abuse, people who cannot protect themselves…
Sometimes, laws protect you even from yourself. For instance laws that restrict or disallow drug use or even alcohol consumption. Or even a law requiring you to have a smoke detector in your home or to put on a seatbelt. Fine, you could argue that it is your right to choose not to wear a seatbelt and to have your head smashed into the windscreen in an accident. After all, it is YOUR head. But no, that law is in place to protect you from you and to force you to do what’s in your best interest. These are public policy reasons- they are for the betterment of society as a whole.
If you really think about the prostitution business- the demographic of players in that industry, the abuse that leads to and goes on in the industry, the links and interconnection with abusing alcohol, drugs, theft, assaults, violence and other related crimes, no sane person would say that prostitution should be legalized. Maybe you dont really know what goes on in that industry, Ebuka. I cannot believe you would make such a ridiculous argument. Smh.
2nd Anon: Ebukas point is simple, i find it hard to believe most of you guys are missing the point. If the industry is regulated, that will handle the following issues:
1. Abuse, perhaps there will be a minimum age required, thereby curbing the issue of child trafficking.
2. Regular screening, there could be regular checks to ensure the prostitutes are safe and healthy.
3. Pricing, there would be a standard pricing regime that not exploit the prostitutes.
Thats just to mention a few, its issues like this i believe Ebuka was referring to.
Whether we admit it or not, the need for prostitutes has always been there and will always be there, and perhaps if the “industry” was well regulated it would also reduce the cases of abuse we hear about all the time, eg defiling of minors
I am not in support of prostitution, but i’m enlightened enough to appreciate the topic