Did Maltese women fight during the sieges?

When the sources say Maltese citizens took up arms, does that include women as well as men?

Probably yes. Women commonly manned walls, used ranged weapons, moved supplies, and otherwise joined urban defence during sieges.

References to armed citizens likely include both men and women. Comparable siege practice, including at Venice, involved women manning walls, using crossbows or throwing stones, and carrying weapons and supplies where needed. In a siege, war came directly to the household, and poorer civilians could not rely on ransom or protected surrender if the defences failed. Later Victorian ideals helped create a misleading picture in which women were separated from physical work and wartime danger. Defensive stairways also show how position, design, and precision can neutralize an attacker's greater brute strength. Civilian participation should not be read as an exclusively male category when surviving accounts are imprecise.