Setting aside questions of compassion and empathy (or the apparent lack thereof) ... Is there a need to have them? It is called "the worlds oldest profession" for a reason, these women do not force themselves on their clients, they sell a service and clients willingly buy that service. Individual opinions vary across societies but there is a large enough cross-section of society that endorse it, perhaps not with their words but certainly with their money, enough to make prostitution one of the highest grossing industries globally. So regardless of being pro or anti prostitution, it exists, it has existed for thousands of years, it will likely continue to exist.
So practical solutions? The most viable to me seems to be the Dutch model. Legalization and regulation. That way you protect the prostitutes from exploitation, protect them from being trafficked, controlled with drugs or violence and ensure they have access to adequate health services. Protect them and you protect everyone they service.
Through regulation you can redirect more resources to finding and prosecuting the actual criminals; the human traffickers, the pedophiles who are some times linked to trafficking circles, the pimps that buy trafficked women, men (yes, men too) and children, ply them with drugs then have them sell themselves only to take most of what they make. The Dutch model may not be the ideal, it is a work in progress, but quite frankly it is the most viable solution presented to date.