'I can no longer stay silent': Dolores Huerta alleges sexual assault by UFW co-founder Cesar Chavez
Dolores Huerta, the labor activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, said Wednesday she was "manipulated and pressured into having sex" with him.
Huerta's statement to ABC News comes in response to a New York Times article on allegations that Chavez, the late farmworker organizer who became a national civil rights icon, abused women and minors.
"I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences," Huerta said.
The labor activist said she's now breaking her silence because the Times' reporting "indicated that I was not the only one – there were others."
According to the Times, one of the survivors alleged she was 12 years old when Chavez first touched her inappropriately and 15 when he raped her in California. Another victim who spoke to the Times alleges she was summoned for sexual encounters with Chávez dozens of times over a four-year period, starting when she was 13 and he was 45.
The Times investigation claims that Chavez used his position of power to exploit many of the women who worked and volunteered in his movement for his own sexual gratification.
"The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years," Huerta said. "There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions. Cesar's actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement."
Huerta, 95, said she had two separate sexual encounters with Chavez in the 1960s.
"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 co-founded the United Farm Workers with Chavez in 1962, work that led to the first farmworker union contracts in U.S. history. In 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her decades of advocacy in civil rights and women’s equality.
Chavez died in 1993 at the age of 66.
Huerta said both encounters with Chavez led to pregnancies that she kept secret and later arranged for them to be raised by other families.
"Over the years, I have been fortunate to develop a deep relationship with these children, who are now close to my other children, their siblings," Huerta said. "But even then, no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago."
Huerta said she "carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life's work."
"The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn't going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way," Huerta said.
In statements to ABC News on Wednesday, the UFW and the César Chávez Foundation acknowledged the "disturbing" allegations.
"The César Chávez Foundation has become aware of disturbing allegations that César Chávez engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with women and minors during his time as President of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW)," the foundation said, adding that it was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the reports.
The Chavez family said in a statement Wednesday: "Our family is devasted by today’s New York Times article about our father Cesar Chavez."
The family added, "This is deeply painful for our family. We wish peace and healing to the survivors and commend their courage to come forward. As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual abuse. We carry our own memories of the person we knew. Someone whose life included work and contributions that matter deeply to many people. We remain committed to farmworkers and the causes he and countless others championed and continue to champion. We ask for understanding and privacy as we continue to process this difficult information."
