Prostitution should not be legalized because it would increase childhood prostitution. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund referenced in the article “Prostitution” published in Opposing Viewpoints, “As many as 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. Though children are trafficked for various reasons. . .large numbers are placed in brothels or forced to work for prostitution rings or in the child pornography industry” (“Prostitution” par. 16). The United Nations Children’s Fund’s point is that a shockingly high amount of children are forced into the prostitution industry. The increase in demand for underage prostitution is further validated by the Amsterdam-based ChildRight organization, which estimates that “[t]he number of children in prostitution has increased by more than 300 percent between 1996-2001, going from 4,000 children in 1996 to 15,000 in 2001. . . at least 5,000 of these children in Dutch prostitution are trafficked from other countries. . .” (Raymond par. 15). Basically, the ChildRight organization is warning that the proposed solution to legalize prostitution will only make the problem worse, as underage prostitution has already increased with the legalization of prostitution. According professor Richard J. Estes in the article “Study: Many American Children Trade Sex to Survive” published in Student Resources in Context, "Between 300,000 and 400,000 children in the United States are victims of prostitution, pornography, and other forms of commercial sex" (“Study: Many American Children Trade Sex to Survive” par. 3). In making this comment, Estes urges us to understand the severity of the hidden child prostitution issues rooted in the United States. Legalization will increase these negative factors; although the opposition disagrees. Opposition believes that legalizing prostitution would decrease childhood prostitution. One reason legalization would decrease childhood prostitution is because business owners would have to follow strict regulations that make sure prostitutes have their personal documents of citizenship and age identification (Bass 105). Legalization would mean that issues like child prostitution could be stopped more easily because the industry would be widely open to the expansion of tight restrictions. Furthermore, keeping prostitution illegal has not improved the number of minors prostituted on the market. In the United States alone, there are an estimated 100,000 to 3 million teens are inconspicuously prostituted every year (Liberator par. 10). These underage prostitutes often have not developed adequate social skills, making them a target for manipulation by pimps. These pimps exploit minors for money, which often leads to hazardous situations (Liberator par. 10). The legalization of prostitution would allow prostitution to be regulated in controlled environments that would be safer for prostitutes and keep minors off the streets. The opposition is false when making this claim, however. Legal prostitution has yet to decrease the amount of minors prostituted for profit. Additionally, legalization has caused an increase in demand for prostitutes and with that an increase of prostituted minors. These prostitutes often work while undergoing abuse.