'My silence ends here:' Dolores Huerta responds to Cesar Chavez sex abuse allegations
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Following the Wednesday publication of a New York Times article that accuses civil rights icon Cesar Chavez of sexually abusing women and young girls, Dolores Huerta said Chavez manipulated and forced her to have sex with him.
In a statement, Huerta said she experienced two separate sexual encounters with Chavez.
“The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” Huerta said. “The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”
Huerta, an American labor and civil rights activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers organization alongside Chavez.
READ HUERTA'S FULL STATEMENT HERE
In her statement, Huerta said she ended up pregnant as a result of the encounters and arranged for the children to be raised by other families.
“I had experienced abuse and sexual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret,” Huerta said. “I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”
“I have encouraged people to always use their voice. Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences,” Huerta added.
The New York Times investigation includes allegations from Huerta, and two other women who said they were 13 and 15 when Chavez assaulted them.
According to The Associated Press, Chavez is known nationally for his early organizing in the fields, a hunger strike, a grape boycott, and eventual victory in getting growers to negotiate with farmworkers for better wages and working conditions.
Several organizations, including the Rio Grande Valley-based nonprofit La Union del Pueblo Entero, had previously announced they were not participating in Cesar Chavez Day activities as a result of the allegations.
Huerta said Chavez’s actions do not diminish the farmworker movement.
“I will continue my commitments to workers, as well as my commitment to women’s rights, to make sure we have a voice and that our communities are treated with dignity and given the equity that they have so long been denied,” Huerta added. “I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here."
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