Safe Shelter

“I left one prison to come to another”, Vera remarks before entering the Shelter Home. Inside, guided by Joana, the psychologist, Vera meets other women. Madalena, a bitter woman who still struggles to feel like she belongs in the Home; Gabriela, a needy young woman who forces the women to play the role of the family she never had, and Conceição, a strong matriarchal figure, furious upon finding out her abuser — husband — was given a suspended sentence. Vera does not relate to their experience, she does not see herself as a victim. She desperately tries to run away from the Home but, finding the other three women in a clandestine ritual in the backyard of the shelter, Vera decides to join them instead. At that moment she witnesses something she had been in want of for years – friendship. Mutually supporting each other, these women experience the multiple stages of passing through the Home. Between laughter and tears, their life paths intertwine throughout the 6 episodes of the fiction series, culminating in a tragic end that gives voice to those who have been silenced. The series re-inforces the significance of Shelter Homes as a safe place where women can rebuild, not only their lives, but also their own identity.