Martial Art for small female

You're so little there is no martial art which is going to help you. The best sport you can take up is the 100m sprint.

Probably Ju Jitsu or something along those lines

At 5 ft 1 you're unlikely to have the build that would make you excel at martial arts; when faced with danger you can only really run as fast as you can, though the ability to stun the perpetrator with a quick hit is always good

Definitely aikido. I do aikido but the guys there also teach self defence. It's meant to be one of the most peaceful martial arts but it's a lot about learning about the body, how to break joints quickly, working against other people's balance breakers, ripping tendons, learning to breakfall, how to choke people out, etc. I'm small and have been doing it since October and can take down some quite big guys now. But def make sure you find a "normal" self defence class too, a lot of the time it's knowing how to cope in difficult situations and de-escalating them. Also, aikido is a LOT of fun, some of it is more about the artform but some is transferable skills. Depends on the sensei!

Aikido is ****. Don't do it.

I've been to some absolute **** classes, really hippy dippy stuff, but that's the case with all different types of martial arts too. My aikido class is more self defence mixed with aikido. A lot of the guys at my class also do boxing or kickboxing, krav maga, tai chi (the martial art not the meditation style). We have a couple of army guys in too. Lots have used aikido and self defence in real life situations and street fights.

I would suggest (to the OP) that you go along to as many different martial art classes near you as possible, it really depends on the teacher as all variants are different. Normally the first session is free anywhere you go, too! Good luck, hope you find something helpful and fun!

If you're mixing with real self-defence, then you're set. However, raw aikido is unfortunately not legitimate and if you try to flip a 100kg man with a flick of his wrist, you are going to be in a lot of trouble. As others have mentioned in this thread, the best idea is to kick to the nuts and run. No fighting nonsense.

Aikido is a fun pastime, a bit like yoga. But Steven Seagal has a 7th degree black belt in it ... which tells you enough about the art.

Have you practised aikido before? A lot of the wrist things like kotegaeshi, we fall down because otherwise our wrist would break. Nikkyo is surprising painful so people drop to their knees, it stretches the tendons in their wrist until they snap. That's why it looks like people are doing barely anything. But, rarely will you be in a situation where you have to get out of a wrist hold like that. We have a lot of nut kicking miming going on in class but the best tips from aikido class I was given was to break people's noses with your elbow, or break their knees, sliding your foot down against the side of their leg. Aikido is really fun as well though, it's a brilliant art. Don't mention Steven Seagal, we try to ignore him lol. Don't know where you're from but if it's South West England you can come along to our class for free to try it out if you're ever interested in it!

It looks fun. More of a BJJ man myself.

We have a woman in my class who also does BJJ! I've always wanted to try that, looks awesome, so far I've only tried Krav Maga and kickboxing