Back in 2014, Miss Nia Sanchez was named the winner of the Miss America Pageant. During which pageant, Miss Sanchez stated the following:

""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," Nia Sanchez said. "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."

Possessing a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, I very much agree with the words of Sanchez. Though, after her statement was aired, social media platforms blew up, most calling Sanchez out for "promoting rape culture."

Women shouldn't need to learn to protect themselves against rape #missnevada educate and respect yourself as a woman #rapeculture — Anna Beth West (@annabethwest) June 9, 2014

If #MissUSA2014 is the girl who thinks girls need to learn self defense to prevent rape, I'll be furious— Colleen Gibbons (@GibbonsColleen) June 9, 2014

There tends to be a stigma around the idea of self-defense and rape culture cross-pollinating. It's heavily argued that women who believe it's important to be able to defend yourself are merely encouraging 'rape culture' by insinuating that assault may occur to them, therefore essentially naming rape a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Two things, both self-explanatory:

1. Statistics don't lie. Bad things actually DO happen.

Based on the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 women in the U.S. were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006, averaging 600 women per day.

Soldiering on with the belief perseverance that if we live our lives with no regard to the idea that bad things can happen, doesn't mean they won't. There are laws against breaking and entering, but that doesn't mean we leave our doors unlocked everyday. Just because something is wrong and shouldn't be done, doesn't mean that there aren't people who don't care, and will do it anyway.

2. Encouraging women to be prepared isn't encouraging rape.

Promoting within women the confidence of having the ability to remove themselves from a situation turned bad, can co-exist with teaching people not to be rapists. This is not in favor of 'rape culture,' it's the exact opposite-- really-- by making sexual crimes harder to commit. It doesn't have to be a choice between promoting sexual assault or safety among women. The argument that they are one in the same is actually ludicrous, as the two contradict the other respectively.

Wanting to posses the ability to defend yourself is not a lack of having respect for yourself. The statement that women who strive to have an understanding of self-defense are uneducated is false. A lack of education is proven through women who choose to argue that working to prevent a horrible event will only entice it more.

It truly is sad that we live in a world that you have to worry about the possibility of being harmed when you leave your home-- or even within your home. I agree that there is a problem, but it has nothing to do with said women who are 'disrespecting' themselves and 'encouraging' poor behavioral choices by acknowledging this.

It's a morality problem; far from the grasp of being promoted and disbanded by one comment concerning self-defense by Miss America.

There are very few things we can control in this world. We cannot control the weather. We cannot control how other people feel, and we definitely cannot control what other people do. But, we can control how we respond to any situation, and the preventative measures we take in the meantime. Despite those who argue, we do have the right to take theses measures without being blamed for assault occurrences. Acknowledging the reality of a situation is far from a lack of empowerment.

Defending yourself against sexual assault is not a sign of weakness. It is not an unspoken statement of permission to rapists.

Ignoring evil will not make it non-existent. Frankly, it's naïve, and that's all it is.