I’d get her a short barreled .357 or .38 revolver. Get one without a hammer. No slide or mag for her to bother with. Just grab it and shoot, really simple like. The .357 has uber stopping power too. FAR more than the .380(or even a 9mm).
I agree there, go with a hammerless revolver.
Only thing lacking really is capacity. Best case scenario shots never get fired even if the gun does get pulled, so capacity doesn’t matter.
Worst case... after that first round the bad guy’s day is pretty much ruined so the followups are just to make sure he doesn’t get back up. Anymore than 3 rounds here and haven’t been training enough.
How about a .45 with sub-sonic loads. Very comfortable to shoot, makes big holes.
I’d get her a short barreled .357...
Because defense .357 Magnum rounds out of a lightweight revolver has far less recoil than 9mm out of a semi-auto.
Did you read that part about "intimidated by recoil"