Volunteer Spotlight: Mandarin Linguist – Yingshu

I am Yingshu, a Mandarin teacher at a university in Singapore. I have been volunteering for Project X for over six months. Last year, I decided that since my work and life are relatively stable, it is finally time to step up and help others. I initially considered working with children, but then, came across […]

Elise’s Story: Cheated, Cuffed, Detained

At Project X, we rarely see happy endings. Many cases brought to our attention feature injustice and abuse against the sex workers who approach us, with little institutional recourse available. However, we happily closed 2018 with a successful case! Elise is transgender woman who was engaged in private escort work to provide for her family […]

Trans Women and Domestic Work

Introduction How do you validate unpaid domestic work? Most of us will be influenced by cultures belief and family views on domestic work. When we do think about it, we mostly imagine only cisgender women as those who participate in unpaid care work. This is because we view these chores as a woman’s responsibility due […]

A Life Abused: An Interview with Doris

The following interview contains content involving child abuse and some violent content. Discretion is advised. Too often, the social system tramples on the very people it is meant to protect. The crushing reality of this is all the more apparent for transgender sex workers, who are caught right in the intersection of two marginalised social […]

The Stories of Muslim Transgender/Cisgender Woman Sex Workers

During  the ninth month of Islamic calendar which is Ramadan, Muslims worldwide are fasting for a period of 29-30 days. Muslims are to refrain from consuming food and drink, smoking and engaging sexual activities etc from dawn till sunset. And refraining from behaving indecently and not to say ill or vulgar. This annual obligatory ritual […]

“They Only Do This to Transgender Girls”: Report

Late 2013, we approached by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School, upon being recommended by a local professor. They wanted to reach out to groups working on LGBT issues with the hope of producing a full human rights report. We exchanged a few long distance emails, and finally agreed upon […]

Taiwan Pride 2015: Reminiscing My Walk of Unity

When I was told my trip to Taiwan for ILGA 2015 conference will end with a must-be-present event call Pride Parade, I was skeptical about it as I was also told the event was similar to Pink Dot and the parade ASEAN People’s Forum organized but only that this parade has gay men under dressed, […]

Youth Voices Count In My Heart

Youth Voices Counts (YVC) is a regional network of young people who are leaders and advocates on MSM and Transgender issues (and other related issues like sex work and HIV/AIDS) . As part of their advocacy, YVC  came up with a program where they would want to create more leaders of young people from different […]

A Life In Pictures: Tracy, “Jangan Makan Hati Ye Nok.”

When I was assigned to do an interview which require me to ask my interviewee on sharing their personal private photo to the Project X Blog and knowing the industry too well I was quite sceptical of the idea. Surprisingly it does not take that long on having a willing interviewee who is very open […]

Abuse

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Vanessa Ho

Executive Director | [email protected]

Executive Director
[email protected]

Vanessa has been full-time with Project X since 2011, and as a result, has had many opportunities to meet and connect with sex workers in Singapore and around the world. Under her leadership, the organisation has grown from a small group of volunteers to one where there are three paid staff and a team of over 60 volunteers. Correspondingly, she has increased the annual operating budget of the organization five times, and is now recognized as the leading organization that empowers and assists women in the sex industry.

Vanessa has written and spoken extensively about sex work, human trafficking, rape culture, and LGBTQ rights in Singapore. She believes that if people can speak about sex, gender and sexuality in open and in non-judgmental ways, society will become a safer place for everyone.

Vanessa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Warwick, and a Masters Degree in Gender, Society and Representation from University College London.