Nismet, a schoolgirl, lives with her mother Najoua and violent stepfather Denis. He forces Najoua into prostitution and tries to rape Nismet. She fends him off, but he forbids her to leave. To protect her mother, Nismet stays silent and runs away.

Nismet moves to an emergency shelter, then a better home. She returns to school and pursues a vocational baccalaureate. With support from a fellow resident, she finally decides to visit her mother.

Brigitte, the hostel manager, suggests that Nismet apply for legal emancipation. As a result of this action, the young woman is able to move into a small studio flat on her own.

To fund a lawyer for her mother and support herself, Nismet now works two jobs as an apprentice care assistant in a nursing home and a dancer in a strip club. At the club, she meets her boyfriend Damien, a young security guard.