women and children
Collective term for women and children, often used in contexts of protection, evacuation, or social welfare.
In a disaster, the safety of women and children should be secured first.
Can refer to an adult woman or a wife, but this usage is somewhat dated and often replaced by 女性 or 妻 in modern Japanese.
He is good at speaking kindly to women.
During the war, facilities were built to protect women and children.
When the earthquake struck, they evacuated the women and children first.
子女 means 'children (sons and daughters)' and uses the same characters in reverse order from 婦女子, but refers only to offspring, not women.