Dolores Huerta: “My Silence Ends Here”
Activism
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March 18, 2026
Labor icon speaks out after revealing she was sexually assaulted by Cesar Chavez.
Dolores Huerta in her office in Bakersfield, California on July 21, 2025.
(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Wednesday, The New York Times published an article alleging that Cesar Chavez, the labor and civil rights leader who co-founded and led the United Farm Workers union until his death in 1993, sexually abused several young girls and women who worked in the movement. Among those who shared their story for the first time was Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the UFW with Chavez and received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1999, the Puffin/Nation Award for Creative Citizenship in 2002 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Huerta, 95, told the Times that Chavez raped her in the 1960s.
After the article was published, Huerta released a powerful statement about her experiences, which she had kept hidden for six decades. We reproduce this statement here.
I’m almost 96 years old, and for 60 years I’ve kept it a secret because I thought revealing the truth would harm the farmworker movement I spent my entire life fighting for.
I encouraged people to always use their voice. Following The New York Times After a multi-year investigation into Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse, I can no longer remain silent and must share my own experiences.
As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with Caesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel like I could say no because he was someone I looked up to, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time, I was forced, against my will, and into an environment where I felt trapped.
I had experienced sexual abuse and violence before and convinced myself that these were incidents I had to endure alone and in secret. Both sexual encounters with Caesar led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies a secret, and after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families who could give them a stable life.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to develop a deep relationship with these children, who are now close to my other children, their brothers and sisters. But even then, no one knew the whole truth about how they were designed until just a few weeks ago.
I kept this secret as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work. Forming a union was the only way to realize and secure these rights and I was not going to let Cesar or anyone else stand in the way. I devoted everything I had to defending the interests of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserving of equal rights.
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I never identified as a victim, but I understand now that I am a survivor – of violence, of sexual abuse, of controlling men who viewed me and other women as property or things to be controlled.
I tell my story because The New York Times indicated that I was not the only one, there were others. Women are coming forward and saying they were sexually abused and assaulted by Caesar when they were girls and teenagers.
Knowing that he hurt young girls makes me sick. My heart aches for all those who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn the deplorable acts he committed. Caesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement.
The farmworker movement has always been larger and more important than any one individual. Caesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farm workers with the help of thousands. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism more than ever.
I will continue my commitments to workers, as well as my commitment to women’s rights, to ensure we have a voice and that our communities are treated with dignity and afforded the fairness they have been denied for so long.
I kept this secret for quite a long time. My silence ends here.
If you are a survivor or have been affected by any type of sexual violence, please visit the Dolores Huerta Foundation website, where you will find a list of support resources.
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