In Hong Kong, domestic workers must walk a precarious tightrope. One stumble can be disastrous

Originally published at CNN As Equals on Jul. 19, 2025. Photos: Noemi Cassanelli.

By Jessie Lau and Carlotta Dotto

*All the names of workers have been changed to ensure their safety and jobs.

Hong Kong — One morning, Jenny, a domestic worker from the Philippines, woke up to a WhatsApp message with a fake photo depicting her committing a sexually explicit act. “Pay what you owe, or I’ll send this to everyone you know,” the sender warned, Jenny recounted to CNN.

Her stomach twisted with dread. The texts were from a loan shark Jenny had borrowed money from in a desperate bid to settle her debts, which had spiraled out of control. The threats would keep coming until she paid up, which she couldn’t afford to do without taking another loan. Better to ignore them, she decided. Jenny blocked the number and deleted the message, feeling a momentary sense of relief as the photo disappeared from her screen.

But her nightmare was just beginning. The image, a doctored rendering of an existing photo, was sent to her contacts. She suspects her phone was hacked through an app the loan shark had told her to download to receive money.

Then, the loan shark started harassing her employer. They told her employer that “once they see me outside, they will do something bad to me and (the employer’s) two kids,” Jenny added in a phone interview. “They said they’ll kill me.”

How did things go so terribly wrong? When Jenny first came to Hong Kong in 2013, she had dreams of earning a better life for herself and her kids, just like the hundreds of thousands of other foreign domestic workers striving to make it in the city.

These migrant workers, almost entirely women and largely hailing from the Philippines and Indonesia, are the backbone of Hong Kong’s economy, taking on duties such as cooking, cleaning and childcare for six days a week. It’s tough but worthwhile work for those seeking to provide for their families back home. The monthly minimum wage of 4,990 Hong Kong dollars ($640) is higher than what most can make in their home countries. Yet the amount is still much lower than the minimum wage set for local workers, which was raised to 42.1 Hong Kong dollars ($5.36) an hour or about 6,736 Hong Kong dollars ($858.10) monthly for a five-day, 40-hour work week.

As one of Asia’s top financial centers, Hong Kong is heavily reliant on foreign domestic workers to keep households running –– and in turn, free up locals to fully participate in the labor force. Domestic workers have been estimated to contribute more than $12.5 billion to the city’s economy, according to a report published in 2019 by local charity Enrich and information services company Experian.

But despite their significant contributions, migrant domestic workers lack crucial legal protections and are highly vulnerable to exploitation, according to advocates. They are legally required to live with their employer, leaving them open to potentially abusive situations. Sexual harassment and assault at the hands of employers are likely underreported, and there have been multiple reports of workers being significantly underpaid or forced to endure poor living and working conditions.

“We had one client who had to share the cat’s bowl because she was considered dirty and wasn’t allowed to touch the crockery,” said Chloe Martin, program manager at Branches of Hope, a Hong Kong charity serving marginalized communities. “She slept on the balcony all year round, and could only use the bathroom before 6.00 a.m. and after 10.00 p.m.”

Yet many victims choose not to speak out for fear of losing their jobs, advocates say. Workers who quit, are fired or complete their contracts are given only 14 days to stay in the city and can only extend their stay in “exceptional” circumstances. And no matter how long they work in Hong Kong they’re ineligible for permanent residency.

Such precarious labor conditions and restrictive government policies set domestic workers up to fail, advocates say. Migrants can end up falling through the cracks in many ways: from being abused by employers and exploited by loan sharks, to overstaying visas and misunderstanding translators while struggling to navigate the city’s complex legal and immigration systems.

In this potential pressure cooker, one mistake can have swift and lasting consequences, including detention or even deportation. Yet even with such risks, domestic migrants still come to work here in droves. Last year, there were more than 368,000 foreign domestic workers in this city of 7.5 million people, one of the highest such ratios in the world.

A spokesperson from Hong Kong’s labor department told CNN that the government “does not tolerate any exploitation or abuse” of foreign domestic workers. Employers who fail to meet requirements may be prosecuted or barred from employing domestic workers in the future, and workers who have been mistreated are encouraged to report incidents to the department and law enforcement agencies.

Since Hong Kong “prioritizes employment opportunities for the local workforce” and foreign domestic workers are meant to “address the established shortage of local live-in domestic helpers,” changes to the live-in requirement “would undermine the policy rationale,” according to the spokesperson. The labor department also runs an online portal, 24-hour hotline and free consultation services to provide assistance to foreign domestic workers.

All live-in domestic workers, whether local or foreign, are “exempted from the statutory minimum wage” and instead paid a minimum allowable wage that includes “free accommodation with reasonable privacy,” food and medical treatment, the spokesperson said. “This exemption is due to the distinctive pattern of live-in domestic work, where workers both work and reside in their employers’ homes, making it difficult to calculate and record their working hours and the in-kind benefits provided by employers.”

Easy prey for loan sharks

It can take money to get a domestic worker job in Hong Kong. Many end up taking out loans to pay for hefty, if illegal, recruitment fees charged by agencies or to travel within their home countries for training. Under Hong Kong law, employment agencies are prohibited from charging job seekers any fees beyond the allowed commission rate, which is set at 10 percent of the worker’s first-month salary after successful placement. Still, some are overcharged by agencies and coerced into signing loan agreements before leaving their home countries. They can amass mountains of debt before they even step foot in the city. Once they start working, many are already on the backfoot –– and it doesn’t take much to start stumbling.

Manisha Wijesinghe, executive director of HELP, a non-profit supporting the city’s foreign domestic workers, says they are particularly vulnerable to scams and high-risk borrowing schemes because they’re under intense financial pressure but aren’t typically eligible to take out loans from banks.

Many turn to loan sharks, who lend them money at extortionate interest rates and require borrowers to hand over IDs and other personal data as leverage. On June 16, International Domestic Workers’ Day, NGOs urged the government to impose limits on such unsecured personal loans provided by licensed money lenders. Since then, the government has proposed tightening restrictions on licensed operators, but concerned groups warn that the measures may drive more borrowers towards unlicensed lenders instead. “Some cases end up being caught up in money laundering rings,” Wijesinghe told CNN. “It’s this cycle which is very difficult for these workers to get out of.”

It’s a cycle Jenny knows well. Her family’s main breadwinner, she became indebted before arriving in Hong Kong. To secure her first job, she says she was coerced by an unethical employment agency to pay a hefty fee. In the Philippines, domestic workers are required to go through private employment agencies to secure a job, unless they’re being hired by the employer directly.

Although the Hong Kong government says it has a duty to protect domestic workers and asks those who suspect they’ve been exploited to report to its Employment Agencies Administration, many migrants are unaware of their rights.

That’s why just one setback can have disastrous consequences. Shortly after Jenny started working, her daughter was in an accident, which caused bleeding in the brain. She decided to borrow money to foot the medical bills. She says she fell prey to a scam, lost the money and was fired by her first employer.

In the years since, Jenny fought to stay afloat, borrowing money from several online lending platforms in a scramble to settle her debts before eventually falling behind on her payments last year. After she was sent the doctored photo and her employer was threatened, Jenny decided to resign in order to protect them.

How scams became increasingly sophisticated

In Hong Kong, as in many parts of the world, scams are a billion-dollar industry – and growing. Earlier this year, police arrested 21 people in a crackdown on an organized crime syndicate that authorities said lured domestic workers into opening virtual bank accounts that were used to launder up to 74 million Hong Kong dollars ($9.4 million) over two years, local media reported.

The scams are also growing increasingly sophisticated, according to George Mariano A. Soriano, vice consul of the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong.

“The syndicates have resorted to other deception tactics such as rewards for online registration to mobile games,” Soriano told CNN. “In reality, (they) are not really online games but virtual bank apps used to capture (their) ID and facial photos in order to set up stooge bank accounts in their name.”

Jolene, a 45-year-old domestic worker from the Philippines, is one such victim. In November 2023, she was at the airport with her employer and about to catch a flight for the holidays, when her identity card was flagged.

She was taken into a holding room and questioned for hours. “I was handcuffed; I was crying a lot,” Jolene told CNN during an interview in Hong Kong earlier this year. “I was thinking: ‘Oh my God, what is happening to me?’”

It turns out, Jolene’s personal information had been used without her knowledge by criminals to open an online bank account, which was then used to launder 700,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $90,000). Frightened and confused, she was detained overnight in a police station. “The blankets were very dirty. I had my period. When I went to the bathroom, they put chains on my feet. It was horrible,” Jolene said.

It wasn’t until the next day that Jolene was provided with translators who helped her figure out what had happened. The previous year, Jolene lost her ID and asked a Facebook group of fellow workers whether anyone had found it. The next day, an unknown Filipino woman contacted her saying she had it and could return it in person. (Jolene suspects the woman found the ID at one of the weekly Sunday social gatherings of domestic workers in the city.)

The woman offered Jolene $300 Hong Kong dollars ($40) if she took a photo of herself with her ID to help sign up for an online gaming app, and she naively agreed.

Although Jolene was released on bail the same day she was interrogated, and unconditionally released eight months later, the episode traumatized her.

Her once-strong relationship with her employer of three years crumbled and they decided not to renew her contract. Fearing discrimination, Jolene hid what had happened and withdrew from her community. “I lost trust. No one could know, not even my friends.”

Broken behind bars

Domestic workers often struggle to navigate Hong Kong’s opaque immigration and legal systems. But failing to do so can have serious consequences, as Hirushi, a mother-of-two from Sri Lanka, found out in a case that landed her in detention and a psychiatric ward.

Hirushi was detained last year after accidentally overstaying her visa, she said. Officials told her that despite securing new employment, she had been staying in the city illegally during her job search because her previous employer had terminated her contract some time ago without her knowledge. Her 14-day window had closed, and officials made it clear there was no room for negotiation.

Confused about her legal rights, Hirushi ended up seeking asylum, under the false impression that doing so would allow her to remain in the city and work to pay off her debts. Instead, she was held for about two months in the Tseung Kwan O Immigration Headquarters and Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre, where she claims she was coerced to take medication against her consent in a psychiatric unit of the center.

Hirushi told CNN she was held in a “dirty” and windowless room with 37 other detainees early on in her detention. “One lady asked for a (sanitary) napkin, but they said there was only one napkin given in the nighttime and you had to wait. She got her period in the morning, so she waited until nighttime, crying,” Hirushi said. “It’s a very bad place. There’s no human rights there.”

An Immigration Department spokesperson says that detainees at Castle Peak Bay and Tseung Kwan O Immigration Detention Centers are “treated fairly and properly,” with access to personal hygiene provisions, information on their rights in 29 languages, channels for lodging complaints, legal advisors and visits by Justices of the Peace. Detainees at Castle Peak Bay are provided with “adequate facilities, including food, water, accommodation, showers and exercise opportunities.”

“Any detainee who is dissatisfied with their treatment may lodge a complaint with senior officers during daily inspections, the Office of The Ombudsman, or any visiting Justices of the Peace,” the spokesperson said. “If a detainee complains of or appears to suffer from sickness or injury (they’ll) be provided with appropriate medical attention, including treatment in the in-centre sickbay. Medical officers will explain to detainees the prescriptions, dosage instructions, and the results of the medical examinations.”

According to Wijesinghe, cases of miscommunication between domestic workers and authorities are common because there’s a “significant mismatch” between the migrants’ needs and the services provided. This can cause confusion and instances of legal misrepresentation, with many migrants making decisions that have a huge impact on their cases without fully understanding their options.

“The services provided through the immigration and detention processes are seemingly equal, but (they’re) not,” Wijesinghe said. Even if migrants are provided information in their native language, they may struggle to understand the legal complexities and require additional explanations, which are not always available, she explains. “(Hirushi) wasn’t at a level to be able to comprehend the intricacies.”

Each year, hundreds of foreign domestic workers are arrested for overstaying their visas or taking on illegal employment. Yet those who do so often feel they have no other choice, particularly if they’re in debt, Martin told CNN.

“If you terminate your contract or you’re fired, then you have to go back (home) having not paid any of that debt. It ends with people staying in situations of exploitation,” Martin said.

These days, Jenny has a new job. Since she reported the threats to the police and cut ties with her former employer, the loan shark has stopped harassing the family. But she’s had to borrow even more money – this time, from a friend in the Philippines. Jenny owes about $7,000, which she must repay within four years at a 10% interest rate.

“Up to now, I can’t find a way. I don’t know how to make my life normal,” she said, her voice breaking.

Still, Jenny plans to keep striving and one day break free from the debt, both for herself and her family. And for that, she feels proud: “I have been strong.”

Additional reporting by Chris Lau