The previous commenter made many great points however there is a big one that was missed: Safety of sex workers. Sex workers cannot report crimes against them without fearing potential legal repercussions as well. Legalizing also means regulating the industry and providing safe options for workers who have been harmed. On top of that regulation would provide safer practices in general in terms of STD protection. Does legalizing and regulating sex work decrease human trafficking? NO BECAUSE NOT ALL HUMAN TRAFFICING IS SEX TRADE RELATED some human trafficing is forced labor, slave labor, or endangerment of children... So if someone is seeking a slave, or child then legal options wouldn't change what they want. Regulations and protections for sex workers has very little to do with the grand scheme of human trafficing. Where there is money to be made there will also be a sadist willing to treat humans as objects for profit, legal protections give the victims more resources.

This isn't even an opinion-based question. Relegating prostitution to the black market is what increases human trafficking. Legalizing and regulating prostitution is how we combat human trafficking in this area.