Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta has publicly accused her late colleague and labor leader Cesar Chavez of sexual violence, joining several other women who shared similar experiences. In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she decided to speak out after being contacted for a New York Times investigation that uncovered allegations of abuse involving minors as young as 12. Huerta, now nearly 96, said she had kept silent for six decades to protect the farmworker movement she helped build with Chavez, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association and died in 1993.
The New York Times report included accounts from multiple women describing sexual abuse by Chavez, including Huerta’s claim that she was manipulated and later raped by him, resulting in pregnancies she kept secret. Other women, including Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas, and Esmeralda Lopez, also described assaults or coercion by Chavez when they were minors or young adults. The United Farm Workers, which evolved from the organization Chavez co-founded, announced it would not participate in Cesar Chavez Day events and pledged to create an independent reporting channel for survivors.
Lawmakers from both parties called for Chavez’s name to be removed from public honors, describing the revelations as shocking and a betrayal of civil rights values.
Share Content note: This story contains details of sexual violence. Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta is one of several women in the United States speaking out against the sexual violence they say they endured at the hands of labour leader Cesar Chav
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