I would say that ideally laws should punish customers and pimps, while leaving prostitutes alone (ideally, offering them opportunities for another professional orientation).
Sweden has largely gone in that direction. Indeed, it generally has chosen throw out the idea that men can do whatever they like sexually with women and not worry about the consequences of their bad behavior, as a certain Australian who is now a guest of the Ecuadoran government has found out much to his displeasure.
I don't think it really changes the various ethical dilemmas much whether or not the prostitutes are female or male.
Well I do, and what more I do think it show the whole problematic with this entire discussion.
Don't get me wrong, Thailand style prostitution is an abomination and opedo is pure scum.
But when we talk about prostitution, it always become a discussion between two side, one embracing the hapy whore myth, while the other embrace the prostitutes as poor victims. Both are simplifications of the real world.
Let take male prostitution. It do not compare with standard female prostitution, yes a few do make their money that way, but the vast majority of male prostitutes only get a few money on the side that way. For most male prostitutes it's a way to be introduced into the gay-bisexual milieu while still enabling them to stay in the closet. The problem with being a young person attracted to ones own gender, is that it's very hard to leave the closet, you lack knowledge of the milieu, its norms and models. As such relationships with older men serve to both introduce you to this, while they at the same time serve as models. At the same time the older men usual have more money and they try to use those to show the affection they can't show in public. This is radical different from traded women.
As for the women we have all from high paid escorts to traded women, and treating the former like the later or vice verse, is an insult to both. So let us first stop treating all prostitution as it were the same. It's stupid and it helps no one it only make us feel better about ourselves.
Next let stop talking about how we stop prostitution, it may be the final goal, but it's not what's important. What's important is helping people, not feeliong moral superior. How do we do that, criminalise the buying of sex? It hasn't helped in most societies, in fact it have only succeed in marginalise the prostitutes even more, as they can't met the Johns in public anymore, making them easy victims of both their johns, pimps and other criminals. It have also pushed the trading of women underground, limiting their contact with the rest of society.
If we on the other hand fully legalise prostitution, their position will be improved as they don't need pimps anymore, they have to follow labour rules, can meet their johns in semi-public (in brothels or "clubs") and can get support from the police, if they are victim of a crime. At the same time, it will also limit the trade of women, as they can't work in public and the customers can weight the risk between legal and illegal prostitution, as such much of the customer base for illegal prostitution will fall, resulting in fewer women being traded.
