Legalization of Prostitution?

The recent Economist magazine has a story about a female Chinese activist who works to help women who are forced to work as prostitutes.  The Economist story refers to an older story about Ye Haiyan, and I found a good article about her on the site: The Daily Beast.  She was, in fact, attacked by eight men back in May of this year, due to her activism on the part of Chinese "sex-workers."

This article is somewhat heart-breaking in that it points out that many women who work as prostitutes in China have "no other economic choices."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/31/china-s-sex-worker-warrior-ye-haiyan-fights-for-prostitutes-rights.html

1)  Ms. Ye believes that by legalizing prostitution, the working conditions of Chinese prostitutes will improve.  What do you think?

2)  Do you, in general, believe that prostitution should be legalized?

3)  Do you believe, as some psychologists suggest, that working as a prostitute can cause psychological problems or trauma?

4)  Ms. Ye believes that prostitution should be legalized to help these poor women who turn to prostitution to make money.  Shouldn't the Chinese government find a way to help these women so that they do not have to sell their bodies for a living?

5)  Ms. Ye became a prostitute for one day to find out how it feels.  What do you think of her action?

6)  Do you believe that a "feminist" or someone who believes in the equality of men and women should support prostitution?

7)  Do you think that legalized prostitution will increase the "objectification" of women (the viewing of women as objects?)?

8)  Toward the end of the article, a woman states that her previous job was washing dishes.  She then states that being a prostitute allows her to make more money than she did washing dishes.  What do you think of this situation?