Some point to consider
1) I have taught a few women to shoot and they always gravitate toward the smaller guns which is usually counterproductive. They also pick out small guns and that seems to work against them. (and we won’t even get into the attraction of “pink”) When they pick these smaller guns, combined with effective ammo, the recoil scares the hell out of them and they are never comfortable shooting it.
2) I don’t agree with practicing with low power and then carrying high power ammo for self defense unless you get enough practice with the high power ammo and are effective with it. 38 vs 357 is a very large difference and even more so when used in a J frame size hand gun.
3) An airweight J frame kicks pretty hard with 38+P ammo. I used to have to qualify with one using +p+ gold dot ammo. Two 20 rounds groups would wear me out and I shot a bunch of ammo a month in those days. More than most will in a year.
4) If you do choose a J frame, you might think about a concealed hammer model if it is going to be carried concealed. That style trigger is bad about snagging in a purse or under clothing. Also you don’t want the trigger being “cocked” anyhow in a self-defense situation.
5) If she is not going to carry concealed, I would put her in a full size handgun that fits here.
6) That is a LCP you have pictured. I would push her toward a LC380 instead in the Ruger line as the smallest.
7) A 380 with the correct ammo can be a decent defensive handgun. Three quick rounds in the center of the mass will be much more effective than one round of a larger caliber while you are flinching and taking too much time to get subsequent rounds off.
8) I'm not a fan of lasers for self-defense although they are great for law enforcement duty. My Sig 226 has had a laser max since 1995 or so. Worked fantastic while working LE duties. As much as I trained with it, I could still hit faster with the conventional 3-dots (tritium) I’d say 4 shots in the same time as 2 with the laser. However as a LE, the intimidation factor was there! In the civilian world, if you have to pull it, you need to be squeezing rounds off.
9) I would prefer to get her into a 9, but with an adequate size handgun to absorb the recoil of good self-defense ammo. Most I have been to the range with perform similar. With casual shooters, as you go smaller in the gun’s size, you really need to reduce caliber/power accordingly.