But on to a broad overview of the industry. There are five basic "types" of sex work.

Commercial brothel work. This is the classic large brothel run on a commercial basis with someone in authority over the workers. Depending on the legal framework, this can often be rife with abuse and exploitation of workers. Similarly, organised crime is frequently involved. However this work gives the workers the greatest protection from clients.

Cooperative brothel work. This is similar to brothel work except the brothel is run by the workers themselves. These tend to be smaller than commercial brothels and less prone to abuse. This work has a lot of protection from clients like commercial brothels but if prostitution is illegal or in a corrupt society, these will be actively discouraged.

Agency work. Here you have a commercial agency organising and controlling the work. It's similar to commercial brothel work except there's no fixed work place. It also has a lot of protection from clients but is prone to the same kind of exploitation and criminal control as commercial brothels.

Private escort work. Similar to agency work. It maybe cooperative with several workers acting together or simply a self employed individual. An individual frequently has a place to work from, a one person brothel if you like. Protection from clients is significantly lower here but so is the potential for abuse. Like cooperative brothels, this may be actively discouraged. This is the area I now work in, though at times I've worked in all the others.

Street work. The classic hooker on the corner in red light district. Timothy's group are street workers. This is very frequently illegal and, since it's the most visible type of work, it's the one most frequently targeted by authorities. Protection against clients is very low but the potential for abuse in the form of pimping can be quite high. Street workers frequently band together and work in groups to increase protection from both. Timothy's group is a good example of this kind of work. Street workers can often be used by the police as a source of intelligence, they see and hear a lot.

The four basic legal frameworks for sex work

Criminalization of workers. This is the classic approach, intended to stamp out prostitution. It's been used for centuries and frankly fails abysmally. Here you often get exploitation of workers and involvement of organised crime. Workers can not go to the authorities without risking prosecution. However, the authorities usually turn a blind eye with occasional crackdowns in response to public pressure.

Criminalization of clients. This is the "Nordic model." Again it's intended to stamp out prostitution and again fails abysmally to do that. Here the authorities are far less inclined to turn a blind eye. This model is supposedly to protect workers. What it actually achieves is to drive sex work deeper underground and greatly increase the risk to workers. Clients now face legal sanctions. Intimidation and outright violence toward workers from clients become far common as clients seek to protect themselves. You also have the same problems of exploitation of workers and an even higher chance of the involvement of organised crime due to the increased attempts at enforcement.

Legalisation. This is the model used most places sex work is legal. Here sex work is legal, but only within a specific regulatory framework. Outside that framework, it's identical to criminalization of workers. Except authorities are again far less likely to turn a blind eye. Here a sex workers ability to work is dependent on someone else. Could be a brothel owner, could be a licensing system, often both. Key here is how corrupt the society is. The more corrupt, the more it tends toward criminalization. Regardless the potential for exploitation of workers is very high. They are utterly dependent on somebody else in their ability to earn a living and if they step outside the approved framework, the chance of facing legal sanctions is high.

Decriminalization. This is the so called New Zealand model, being the only place it's used. Here all legal sanctions and regulations are removed from workers and clients. Well at least almost all, we do have a requirement for safe sex and a ban on workers who aren't citizens or permanent residents (this is supposed to prevent trafficking, if it does is debatable). Regulations on people in control of sex workers (brothel owners, agencies etc) may well be retained, both to protect workers and keep organised crime out. It is in New Zealand, but I could imagine a system where it isn't. This system tends to encourage cooperative and private work. Here, police often work with sex workers (an excellent source of intelligence), protection of workers is generally good (we run to the police, not away from them) and potential for exploitation significantly reduced. It's almost always the model favoured by sex workers themselves.

Hope this helps people and wasn't too preachy.