In practice, countries like Germany and New Zealand, which have legalised or ‘fully decriminalised’ the prostitution trade, thankfully haven't pursued the ‘sex work’ rhetoric to all its abhorrent, logical endpoints. (In principle women in prostitution have the right to refuse a sex buyer and not be fired, for instance.) The consequences have, nonetheless, been dire.

An official review of New Zealand's licensed brothel system found that in the 12 months prior to questioning, 38% of people in managed brothels “Felt they had to accept a client when they didn't want to” and 3% had been raped by a sex buyer. Additionally, the review noted that the majority of the people involved in prostitution interviewed “felt that the [Prostitution Reform Act] could do little about violence that occurred”.

Germany's decision in 2001 to legalise prostitution has seen it dubbed “the bordello of Europe”. Newly established multi-storey ‘mega-brothels’ have helped boost the trade's annual worth to an estimated 16 billion euros. And despite the official rationale for legalisation being the promotion of women's safety, the government's assessment of what actually transpired concluded in 2008 there was “no firm evidence that more light has been shed into the shady world of prostitution” and “no viable indications that the Prostitution Act has reduced crime”.

“It’s not work, it’s exploitation: why we should never legalise prostitution”