Unfortunately, many women still hold the Victorian notion that a real lady would eschew violence at any cost. In reality, most women are perfectly capable of getting through to opportunistic human predators and not feeling bad about it. Although handguns are versatile and easy to carry, they are less powerful than most shoulder-fired arms. That view ignored the true purpose of a handgun as a sidearm, to be with you always and be deployed fast if necessary. If you are taken by surprise as criminals try to do, you might not have the luxury of dropping your kids to the ground and using both hands to whip out a shotgun from your pocket.
Compact lifesavers are very useful in such situations.