Let me be clear, anything that involves bulling or physical abuse is clear crime to me.
One thing that theft and prostitution have in common are, they both have near zero barrier to entry. I sometimes argue with friends, that starting a internet company is the only near zero barrier to entry market. But, me and my friends take for granted, computers and internet connections paid by month and the knowledge that comes with it. For folks with no real skills that may land them on a job. Its natural to look for ways, to get some money, without putting in a lot of money.
I say material theft is in the gray area, because of all the white-collar crimes that are happening all the time, and people doing it are getting away with it. There are interesting studies about, how all bank robberies and auto-thefts constitute to a tiny portion of theft when compared to people stealing office supplies.
I don't support bank heists, dacoity on trains or white-collar crime/corruption.
All I'm saying is all crimes happen because, people who are doing it doesn't have enough social equity to be a good member of the society. Old people here in India used to say, English medicines treat symptoms not the disease. Punishing theft is somewhat like that, unless we uplift the communities that involve in crime, we can never stop crimes.