For instance, how is exploitation of women in the sex industry any different from farms hiring illegal immigrants, exploiting the immigrants’ lack of legal status, perhaps providing them with poor housing conditions and little pay?

How is it any different from the low-wage position flipping burgers at the local burger chain? Where the owners keep costs down by hiring only part-time workers to avoid benefits required for full-time employees?

At the very least, I think, legalization would partially lift the shame and shine some light to shadowy corners in the world of prostitution and allow the authorities to provide more resource to those sex workers who wanted a path out of prostitution. At best, prostitution would become a fully regulated industry to provide a service to fulfill natural inclination of many in a safe and pleasant environment — both for those provide and those who receive those services.