Labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta said Wednesday that she was sexually abused by farmworker leader César Chávez decades ago, becoming the most high-profile figure to accuse him of misconduct. Huerta worked alongside Chávez for decades, helping found the United Farm Workers union with him and fellow activist Gilbert Padilla. The allegation comes as the UFW grapples with reports that their former leader abused girls and young women.
Huerta's revelation follows a New York Times investigation that found extensive evidence Chávez had groomed multiple young girls while leading the farmworkers movement, including a child he had known since she was 8. The union called the Times reporting "profoundly shocking" and canceled annual birthday celebrations for César Chávez Day, observed March 31. Chávez died in 1993, making independent verification of historical allegations challenging.
"I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life's work," Huerta wrote in a Wednesday blog post. She stated she never identified as a victim but now understands she is "a survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property." The Times did not independently verify Huerta's description of assault, given that she told no one about it until recently.
The revelations have prompted the cancellation of tributes and celebrations in Chávez's honor, raising questions about how the labor movement will reckon with allegations against one of its most celebrated figures. Chávez's family told Axios they are "shocked and saddened" by the revelations, which are "deeply painful" to the family. They stated that "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."