It also serves as protection for the female. It is clear that the bible gives women an inferior status, whereas Islam doesn't. It is clear that in Christianity, the very first woman is blamed for wrongdoing, but not the very first male. Women can talk in the mosque. Again, it is obvious that Islam gives the female a higher status than the bible does.
Muslim women are objects of derision and mockery especially in the Western world.
However, most of the Westerners I've heard this from are usually Christian. It is amazing how many verses the Christian bible has which supports Islamic treatment of women, among other issues. Here is a small list I would like to share with all of you. At a time when the rest of the world, from Greece and Rome to India and China, considered women as no better than children or even slaves, with no rights whatsoever, Islam acknowledged women's equality with men in a great many respects. Both were equally guilty of their sin and fall from grace, and both were forgiven by Allah.