Controversy is swirling around newly crowned Miss USA, Nia Sanchez.

During the Q-and-A portion of the Miss USA pageant Sunday, Sanchez was posed a question on the hot-button topic of sexual assault. Specifically, she was asked why sexual assault on college campuses has been underreported and often purposely hidden by officials.

“I believe that some colleges may potentially be afraid of having a bad reputation and that would be a reason it could be swept under the rug, because they don’t want that to come out into the public,” said Sanchez, as reported by The Washington Post. “But I think more awareness is very important so women can learn how to protect themselves. Myself, as a fourth-degree black belt, I learned from a young age that you need to be confident and be able to defend yourself. And I think that’s something that we should start to really implement for a lot of women.”

That’s a surprisingly well-spoken response given the short 30 second time frame allowed for her answer, and she deserves credit for that. She answered the question in a way that neither forgave attackers nor blamed victims. She even gave practical advice on how women can take their safety into their own strong, fully-capable hands. By suggesting that women learn self defense, she is empowering women. Women shouldn’t have to be afraid of men, and self defense provides one very valuable tool to be used towards achieving a life free from fear. It provides independence, confidence and most importantly, peace of mind.

So why all the condemnation from feminists?

Rape, victim-blaming, and women’s rights have been increasingly discussed in the news of late, and for good reason. In the U.S. alone, there is a victim of sexual assault every two minutes. Yet 60 percent of sexual assaults go unreported. Even more disturbing is that 97 percent of rapists will not spend a single day in jail, according to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). That is simply unacceptable, and something drastic needs to be done to stop it.

With statistics like these, it’s no surprise that emotions are running high. Unfortunately, instead of working together to solve the problem, sexual assault has become yet another source of division. Sanchez now knows this firsthand after the slew of abuse she’s received from feminists in response to her suggestion of self defense as a way to decrease sexual assault.

Yes, rape is a problem. Yes, self defense is obviously not the only answer. But when combined with other methods such as education to promote gender equality and respect for others, self defense can help prevent the sexualization and oppression of women. Utilizing various tactics, men and women can be taught that a person is not defined by their gender, nor does one gender proffer a greater set of rights and power than another.

Although treating others with respect and equality should be common sense, it unfortunately is not. It pains me the most when people with the power to make a positive difference squander it away, promoting further discrimination and ignorance. Take a look at The Washington Post article “Colleges become the victims of progressivism” by George F. Will, for example.

He begins by demeaning victims everywhere by referring to the widespread instances of sexual assault as “the supposed campus epidemic of rape.” Let’s focus for a moment on “supposed.” It’s as if rape doesn’t exist in his fairytale world. He then goes on to further shame sexual assault victims by making the outrageous claim that victimhood is “a coveted status that confers privileges,” ensuring that “victims proliferate.” He believes that the increased awareness of sexual assault on campuses is “making everyone hypersensitive, even delusional, about victimizations.”

Will has a Ph. D from Princeton. He has been reporting for decades. He’s even won a Pulitzer Prize. Such ignorance and hateful comments from a man with as much influence as himself is unacceptable.

Will is yet another man blatantly defending rapists while simultaneously shaming their victims. The louder men like him shout down the few who dare to speak up against their attackers, the more rapists escape justice and return to their college campuses to prey on more victims.

As evidenced by even the educated people like Will, rape culture isn’t going to be solved overnight. Educating and retraining men to respect women instead of treating them as property is going to take time. In the meantime, women can at least learn how to protect themselves, further showing men that women aren’t weaklings that can be used in whatever way men please. Self defense, coupled with widespread education, should be embraced as a tool that can be used by feminists and women everywhere.

Fellow feminists, I have one request for you: stop tearing down the women you’re supposed to be protecting. Let’s work together, with every tactic we have in our arsenal, towards the goal of eradicating sexual assault.

Image via Roger Wong/INFphoto.com