Yep, the same in NZ. The other thing is that legalisation means that both the prostitute and the customer are protected by law. There was a case recently where a customer took a prostitute to the small claims court for not providing the services agreed to and of course prostitutes can call the police without fear of repercussions if a client is getting too rowdy.
They pay tax and get the government work related accident insurance and retirement saving schemes, they get health checks and are regulated to prevent unsafe behavior, they also are presumably subject to inspections to ensure that no drugs, human trafficking, or underage prostitution occurs.
That sounds nice, but as far as I can tell, in America even most above-board jobs aren't required by government to provide those kinds of protections. Prostitution needs it more than simple things like plumber or electrician, especially things like health checks and accident insurance, but legalizing without those around is kind of a half-baked scheme which could be more harmful than the present state of being illegal.
OSHA provides more protection to a wide range of jobs than you might think. FDA does a lot to prevent the spread of food born illnesses.
So, IMO there is nothing unusual about Prostitution regulations protecting both workers and customers, it's just striking because it demonstrates the value of regulation that's normally invisible.
PS: Track on the job deaths around the world and US workers are protected from a lot of harm even with relatively poor enforcement.
I agree that worker protections need some work in the US, but to say that a black market brothel is somehow going to be safer than a regulated, above board one is simply madness. There is no way on Earth that sex workers are better off not having access to law enforcement. And that's just one facet of being in the black market.
Spreading your legs doesn't exactly require a detailed training regime. Electricians and plumbers have challenging jobs that require a lot of training. Changing out electric sockets doesn't make you an electrician.
weed is not legalized in most of the country, and even where it is "legal", it's a complete gray area. It's illegal federally, which completely overrules the states' ability to legalize it. Basically all the legalization you see is that the local state/county police will not come after you for it, but the DEA is still perfectly within their right to come after you if they wanted to - which has happened to some dispensaries.
FYI: Legalization and decriminalization are two different things. The first involves heavy regulation. The second involves making it not a crime, basically.
And making it a crime creates all kinds of problems. I support decriminalization.
They pay tax and get the government work related accident insurance and retirement saving schemes, they get health checks and are regulated to prevent unsafe behavior, they also are presumably subject to inspections to ensure that no drugs, human trafficking, or underage prostitution occurs.