You know, I always think in discussions like these, there is a marked difference between people's perspectives - and that is why we disagree on fundamentals.
My opinion is that the different perspectives are largely split into people who conceive of prostitution on an individual basis and people who see it as an institution, a manifestation of female oppression/male domination, a gendered issue and a form of violence against women.
I'm guessing that those who conceive of prostitution on an individual (even post-modern) level, see prostitution as an option. A choice. Something that a person can use to make money should the need ever arise. Perhaps it is even seen as a security, something to fall back on if necessary. Yes, there are risks and unpleasant aspects to the activity, so if you give it a go, and find that you are not suited to the work, you should walk away from it and do something else. Everyone knows there can be risks so you should choose your punters carefully, report any bad behaviour and be responsible for yourself. Criminalising this activity (which is not what is being argued for on this thread) takes away a person's civil liberty to earn their living this way.
Which sounds sort of plausible until you look at the reality of the majority of prostitution.
First off, the majority of the world's prostitutes are women - so this is clearly a gendered issue (and a gendered issue that arises in male dominated society). The majority of these women wish to leave prostitution.
The vast vast majority of johns are men - this is clearly a gendered issue, and, as we live in male dominated society, clearly a power/dominance issue.
Prostitution is global, it is a global activity which generates HUGE sums of money. Massive sums of which go to pimps, brother owners, traffickers, male partners, drug dealers, organised crime, and, in some countries, the state. We are clearly in the realms of an institution.
There are patterns of power in prostitution which reflect the power structures of wider society (essentially class, sex, age and race hierarchies). This is clearly a societal issue, not an individualistic one.
There are patterns of male violence against women in prostitution, which manifest as magnified versions of patterns of male violence against women that exist in wider society (domestic abuse, childhood abuse, emotional abuse, rape, battery, sexual and economic exploitation, the feminization of poverty, submission/dominance paradigms, gender binary hierarchy, male entitlement, male privilege, grooming, etc). This is clearly an extension of male violence against women that exists at a 'domestic' level in society and is being taken to a class level.
If you want to know how humane a society is, look at how it treats its most vulnerable. If you want to know how misogynistic a society is, look at how it treats its most vulnerable women.
Prostitution is symbolic of women's status in society.
A minority of individual women may buck that trend. Good for them. But just as they do not wish others to speak for them, the 'othered' women in prostitution must be listened to and not have their voices and experiences denied.
And, unfortunately, we have to be careful who we listen to - what with so much money being involved and all.
The reality is that there are not enough girls and women in the world who freely choose prostitution to fulfil the demand created by the johns. So, in step the pimps and traffickers to supply girls and women, and by doing so they make a lot of money. And society pretty much turns a blind eye - it's only women after all.