Members of a jury here say they acquitted a man of rape because the woman's clothing suggested she had ''asked for it.''

Sexual assault counselors and women's groups expressed anger and disbelief at the verdict, which the six-member jury reached Wednesday in Broward County Circuit Court. ''It's a fairly horrendous verdict,'' said Ellen Vargyas at the National Women's Law Center in Washington. ''No one, regardless of how they are dressed, should be allowed to be raped under a knife.''

On the night the 22-year-old woman said she was raped, she wore a tank top and a short, white lace skirt without underwear, according to testimony.

''She asked for it,'' said one juror, Roy Diamond. Another juror, Dean Medeiros, said, ''We felt she was up to no good the way she was dressed.''