Vanessa Ho is the project director of Project X, a local non-governmental organisation that advocates for the rights of sex workers of all sexual orientations and gender identities. This is a full-time position she has held since 2011, and one where she is responsible for documenting and reporting on the various human rights abuses sex workers face. She has written and spoken on sex work, human trafficking, rape culture, and LGBTQ rights in Singapore.

Previously, Ho was part of Sayoni, a queer women’s organization, and was a volunteer for its Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) reporting team. As part of her assignment, she traveled to the United Nations (UN) in New York to present a shadow report on queer womens issues for Singapore’s session.

Ho was also one of the key organizers of SlutWalk Singapore, a movement that aimed to raise awareness about rape culture, victim blaming, and slut shaming. Simultaneously, she was a curator at Post-Museum, where she organised a series of talks and events to examine sex, gender, and sexuality in Singapore. Ho was awarded the Young Activist Award by the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) in 2014 for her work on various human rights issues.

Ho graduated with a bachelor of science in economics from the University of Warwick, and a master of arts in gender, society, and representation from University College London. She is also a part-time associate lecturer at the Singapore Institute of Management University (UniSIM), teaching modules in film, and gender theories. Ho holds the view 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZ1fk9IOFY