If comedy central has ever taught me anything, it is that there is still illegal prostitution in Reno, Nevada. ;)

Which probably increases the amount of illegal prostitution in those areas.

I'm sure the Reno Sheriff's department hears that a lot...

Legalizing prostitution allows its workers to fall under police protection.

Illegality also leads to money hiding endeavors and tax fraud. Illegal sex workers are wary of setting up a real shop where they could implement security methods, or a guard to stand at the door in a brothel type operation.

Legalizing prostitution allows for better taxation, and less in the way of illicit venues.

I'm sure you're right in that every woman wouldn't turn to prostitution just because it became legal, but at least part of that should be attributed to the inherent danger of working in an illegal market with zero marketplace or police protections. We (hopefully) wouldn't see a huge spike in legitimate prostitution if it were legalized, but we would almost certainly see an uptick.

Prostitution is legal where I live (Australia) and I can confirm that not every woman has turned to prostitution.

Indeed! It's the same in New Zealand.

As attractive as it may be (in terms of income) there are always inherent risks that come with every occupation.

It even stimulates tourism. I wonder what would happen to the Amsterdam economy if legalization of softdrugs and prostitution becomes the global norm.

Obviously, this should be solvable through better regulation enforcement - but there doesn't seem to be the political will to pay for that...

Maybe in the short-term; it would probably somewhat increase the rate of entry. But removing the powerlessness that comes from illegality would probably also make it much more common for people to be able to move up and out of it and one to other things once they'd entered.

  many people also choose to be homeless; whether or not this is 
  a result of another issue like drugs or mental illness 
  is irrelevant. 

  Many mentally ill people would rather deal with the disease than the treatment.

Mental illness is not a lifestyle choice. No-one who has experienced mental illness would choose to live with it. Those that do live with it often don't live for long.

Many mentally ill people are incurable. Many mentally ill people are too ill to find treatment.

Nobody chooses to live on public transport. The mentally ill are vastly more likely to be the victims of crime: assault, battery, rape. If you were confused and persecuted and in fear for your life: where would you go to seek safety?

Seeking refuge from persecution and violence is not my idea of 'choice'.

They use this free housing as their "business premesis".

Both people need to be over the age of 18.

There needs to be no element of coercion. The paying person is guilty of an offence if the sex worker is coerced even if the payer is not aware of any coercion.

There needs to be no trafficking. The UK uses a stricter definition of trafficking, which can include someone voluntarily coming to the UK. It also includes travel within the country.

There's some other stuff too about premises used as brothels and about pimps.

Your comments about use of Housing Benefit are weird and wrong and not worth responding to.

Others points I believe are correct.

Most HB fraud is criminal gangs using fake id, or individuals who are cohabiting but claiming as singles.

If you operate a cash only business with no paperwork there will always be a temptation to under report earnings.

True it's legal to pay for sex, but it's illegal to offer sex for payment, or to live off immoral earnings.

It's certainly not illegal to respond to an advert offering paid sex or to place such an advert. I have no idea what the law would be regards propositioning people at random.

Edit: Paying for the services of someone who is coerced into prostitution against their will is also illegal.

Source: http://sw5.info/law/punters/

I know. A shocking concept: law has underlying moral values like "it's bad to kill people" and "stealing people's cars is wrong" and so on.