Violently in Love

Behind the closed doors of the Copenhagen-based women’s shelter, the women and children are slowly recovering after having escaped domestic violence. Day by day the women are processing their traumas, building confidence and slowly understanding what it takes to break the cycle of violence.
Mothers and their children have withdrawn for the night. The women’s shelter is quiet. The night watch is checking that all doors are safely locked, and the volunteers, who have been taking incoming calls all day from the hotline, are off. Despite the quiet atmosphere in the shelter, the daily lives of the residents are dominated by emotional stress and dilemmas. What will the future bring? How do they take the first step out of the women’s shelter and avoid falling back into the arms of the violent partner? Day by day, the employees patiently help the women process their traumas and build self-confidence, so the women can build a new life for themselves and their children – a life without physical and emotional abuse.