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Buckle up, bucaroos.
The world's oldest profession is a catch-all for desperate, impoverished, oppressed women who "join" (under duress) the workforce in this industry. Sex work is more broad than prostitution. Porn models, escorts, and many others exists under its umbrella.
The woman's body is the highest prize in patriarchal society. Men who get the prize without "earning" it (i.e. through marriage) and instead pay for it, feel ashamed, which they then project upon the worker. The quick ROI of the market attracts the worst predators in society, who harm and abuse the workers. (Not ALL men do this, yadda yadda).
The workers need extra legal protection, but there's a significant overlap of predatory men and rulers, politicians, et. al., who don't want their prey to have protection.
Whenever it is legalized, some horrific murder or routine abuse gets publicized and causes patriarchal moral panic. The blame inevitably gets placed on the sex worker, and the solution by the men in power is to outlaw it (begrudgingly, because they know it will now be harder to access). It's the exact same reaction you see when a monogamous man gets caught cheating on his wife with an escort. In that case, the wife acts as an arm of the patriarchy and demands her husband blame the sex worker, which helps her avoid feeling the tough emotions that might otherwise end the marriage.
If you look at our current system, Only Fans is known to be a safe harbor for some sex workers. But we're starting to see vultures called OF Managers (née pimps) moving in to commodotize the market. They are always here. The industry shifts and adapts to new societal norms (aka the regulatory environment) and the pimps are always right behind. The workers need extra legal protection from this threat.
But you'll also notice how the manosphere (The Young Predators) has thoroughly entrenched a specific dehumanizing narrative online about OF workers. There is no legal appetite to adapt to the new threat. It will continue this way, sex workers being preyed upon, until something horrific gets publicized. Then there is a little battle between activists crying for better legal protection and the patriarchy crying for bans. The winner of the battle dictates which direction the legal system responds. Rinse and repeat.
I used to agree with the idea that legalizing it would attract epxloitive and abusive managers, increasing harm to (primarily) women. Now I don't. Why? Because the "morally acceptable" workforce is already subject to predatory and abusive managers. Meanwhile, we already have labor slaves, immigrants separated from their passports, smugglers routinely demanding additional pay. You know what the "morally-acceptable" victims can do? Report themselves to authorities and get legal action and protection. You know what people knowingly engaging in illegal activities can't do? Go to the authorities.
Make it legal. Make it visible. Make it taxable and licensable, if so needed. Keeping it in the dark means the workers will heavily skew towards desparation, knowing they're risking legal consequences.
Couldn't you also address that issue by decriminalizing being a sex worker, but keeping the other side of it illegal?