"Yeah, but nobody likes to hear their country being criticized by foreigners. It's a recipe for a flamewar."
How about being criticized by compatriots?
Criticism or not, it's a fact that sex work is illegal in the US to a degree nearly unique among developed countries. Like our drinking age of 21 or the lack of universal health care or the lack of decent public transit or our increasingly constrained children, it's natural for Americans to think that's "natural", but in fact we're a massive outlier.