Bismillah Rahmani rahim.
What many misinformed people ignore about Islam is the fact women do have a very important status in the Muslim community. Women are like protected pearls, and for that reason Allah wants them to keep the essential of their beauty private so they'll remain pure and well respected. Thus anything that display attraction, which may catch people attention (other than the face) should be kept private between husband and wife, since that such exposure is not intended to the public. For those that are not married, the next paragraph will point out why appropriate clothing is always a must.
First of all the true fact is unlike women with Muslims dress and hijab, the ladies that wear short dress will be more likely approached by men, regardless whether they are interested or not. And since we live in a world of total autonomy, where numbers of individuals consider themselves open minded without limit, it is not surprising that the most outraging dress may seem to be totally fine for many people. And as a result of this it is very common now to see that women would wear anything in public. Yet without even being much religious, if we would just think objectively for a second, we’ll notice easily the lack of morality behind this attitude. Crimes like sexual abuses, raped women and others are committed yearly by desperate perverts, who are totally controlled by their desire for women and lust. But if we consider what have really led them to commit those insanities, we'll find out that the main cause is the condition of the world we live in today. If sexual scandale is the casual reality in many places, how can we expect people to care for dignity and purity? It's evident that if these basic moral values are rejected, this rejection will naturally reflect on the way people clothe themselves. What's more absurd is how they would try to get noticed by an outside public they don’t even know. In other occasions, some people go beyond that, trying to use their body as a mean for seduction and possible "hook up". Now this will not be the intention of all the ladies of course, but humans have the tendency to copy on their environment and particularly on those within their immediate entourage. So if we do not have good religious orientation, we'll usually follow others that are supposedly considered the examples or models in our eyes. And this is where satan's trick comes from, because by trying to look like others, we end up falling in the same category... There are women who may feel annoyed sometimes when someone keeps looking at them, and this could be more disturbing if they are married. But because of the way they dress, some folks will not hesitate to throw attentive eyes at their body, or go beyond that. It is true that people should learn about seIf control and disciple, but as recognized in Islam men that look at women are not the only ones to blame here. Because the behaviour of numbers of women show clearly their lack of self esteem in term of purity. Therefore they may claim that they are not trying to show off in public, but their actions remain very contradictory. Now these provocative ways of clothing have become so spread and common that almost all new generations would often dress similarly in accordance to whatever fashion is current. So it will be hard to change that type of mentality. However there is no doubt that the teachings of Islam could make a serious impact on this issue. The wisdom behind its religious laws (e.g Islamic dress code and others) can establish the turning point needed to resolve the different crises of society; Allah knows what is best for his servants. Therefore the believing women of Islam are supposed to be the exemplary women with dignity, who display decent appearance and respectable virtues; and consequently they would not cause the indiscreet ones to star at them... Now it's obvious that governments have a long way to go on the fight against abused women, and statistics have shown that they are far from reaching any satisfying results. Yet isn't it true that if the majority of women in this world could adopt an Islamic attitude, the rate of harassment will radically climb down..? (We'll let the concerned folks ponder on this idea).
It is well known that certain Muslims sisters, especially the ones living in Muslim countries, do hesitate sometimes when it comes to wearing hijab or the right dress. But I (the author) would personally hope that this present article will definitely set their mind free and make them understand that the contribution of every woman could help in making a change in the condition of women. Yet in the sight of Allah this will be only beneficial to them, because it will protect further them from satan and save them in the hereafter from being among the ones who neglect this command of Allah.
In brief, Islam is the religious alternative that will efficiently secure society. With its fair model that disciple men and women, it will bring to a rapid end many crimes and injustices against women, while still giving to them a status and honor. This fact can be verified from the positive outlook which Islam establishes in the social relationship between the two genders. The Quran and hadith(s) of the prophet Muhammed(pbuh) provide wide information on this topic. This is all acurate information that a misinformed individual would not know about Islam; that's why we urge everyone to learn about the religion from its original source and not from a pamphlet published by someone seeking for a bad propaganda of Islam Wassalam!
Statistics of Abuse women in the U.S
http://www.letswrap.com/dvinfo/
Note: the following link clarifies ten popular misconceptions about Islam
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/notislam/misconceptions.html#HEADING1
