The scene: After school, 12-year-old girls wearing mini-skirts and tube tops wander the clean-cut suburban streets in search of middle school boys to have sex with. With maroon lipstick in one hand and a pocket mirror in the other, these girls prepare for the seduction. Upon consummating this abomination against God, these whores rob the moral bank of society until sucked dry.

The problem with the above doomsday scenario is that it has no basis in reality. It is an act of the imagination, yet opponents to the legalization of prostitution continue to use a variation of this slippery slope argument to support their beliefs. Other imaginary effects of legalizing prostitution include the complete and utter destruction of the family or simply the end of civilization.

No one can predict the future, but it’s logical to speculate on what would happen if prostitution were legalized based on areas where it has been legalized.

In America, prostitution has been legal in parts of Nevada since 1967. Here the government taxes and regulates the industry. Prostitutes are required to get monthly exams to check for STDs and brothel owners are liable if a patron contracts an STD from a prostitute. Condoms are mandatory for all forms of sex in areas where prostitution is legal.

The problem with keeping prostitution illegal in most parts of America is that it allows the sex trade to continue to flourish and for the exploitation of women to continue.

In the U.S. alone, the State Department estimates there are 14,500 to 17,500 people brought into the United States each year.

San Francisco is a major hub for sex trafficking and this is not likely to change. Here, women don’t go to the police because the activity they’re engaged in is illegal and prostitutes are punished for it.

This is not only an American problem though. According to the FBI the industry pulls in $9.5 billion worldwide each year.

In places like Russia, pimps have threatened violence against women’s families if they try to run away. Thailand has one of the worst records in the world. Women are routinely abused and sold into sexual slavery—many as young as 12 or 13. These are both places where prostitution is illegal.

Again, sex trafficking is only a problem in places where it’s illegal because there’s a high demand and that demand cannot be legally met—this creates a black market. Why risk breaking the law, possibly exposing yourself to an S.T.D. and supporting a trade that abuses women when you could legally, safely and humanly buy the services of a woman? This is the way it is in places like Germany or Amsterdam.

Keeping prostitution illegal is the 21st century version of prohibition. Bootlegging emerged in America from prohibition just as the sex trade emerged in places where prostitution was illegal.

If legalized, the industry should be taxed and regulated like it is in Western Europe. This is the middle ground between illegality and a laissez faire system. Women under 18 should not be allowed to participate, but women who want to should be able to.

A 5 percent sin tax would be pragmatic to help convince people who would initially oppose the legislation. This idea has already been applied to alcohol and cigarettes.

The tax money from prostitution could be used for things that benefit society such as funding higher education or starting paying off the $9.4 trillion national debt.

Legalizing prostitution would also decrease isolation, make people less ashamed of sex and create jobs. These jobs created would also decrease the income gap between men and women.

In conclusion, the illegality of prostitution allows for the exploitation of women to continue. Opposition is based on slippery slope arguments. Also, the government will directly benefit from legalization and so will we, as this is a government, “of, for and by the people.”

Mangiaracina is a Lenexa senior in journalism.