In 2019, Monette owed money to three loan sharks and was so frightened she could barely function.
The 42-year-old Filipina, who declined to give her last name, says: “You cannot sleep, you cannot eat, you cannot work. You’re so scared that you can’t even close your eyes.”
To harass her, a lender repeatedly sent food delivery riders to her employer’s home with orders worth about $100 each, payable on delivery. As the doorbell kept ringing, her employer grew suspicious and angry.
“My boss kept asking, ‘Why are so many things being delivered? How many times is the doorbell ringing?’” Monette says. “I had to tell her, ‘I didn’t order any of this’.”
Like many of the domestic workers she now advises, she had borrowed…