Dolores Huerta alleges assault by Cesar Chavez amid abuse claims

3 days ago 11

Labor person Dolores Huerta appeared to corroborate allegations of maltreatment against young women oregon minors by the precocious Cesar Chavez connected Wednesday, writing successful a statement that she had 2 non-consensual "sexual encounters" with him that ended successful pregnancy.

The allegations of maltreatment by Chavez, himself a national and civilian rights leader, were first reported by the New York Times connected Wednesday morning. Chavez and Huerta were co-founders of the National Farm Workers Association successful the 1960s. The radical aboriginal became the United Farm Workers union, which inactive represents astir 5,000 workplace workers. Chavez died successful 1993. Huerta remains progressive successful politics.

Huerta, 95, wrote that she kept the assaults concealed due to the fact that she "believed that exposing the information would wounded the farmworker question I person spent my full beingness warring for." The probe and the allegations shared wrong it inspired her to stock her experiences, she said.

"I carried this concealed for arsenic agelong arsenic I did due to the fact that gathering the question and securing farmworker rights was my life's work. The enactment of a national was the lone conveyance to execute and unafraid those rights and I wasn't going to fto Cesar oregon anyone other get successful the way," Huerta wrote. "I channeled everything I had into advocating connected behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved adjacent rights."

Huerta said that she was "manipulated and pressured into having sex" with Chavez, and felt she could not accidental nary "because helium was idiosyncratic that I admired, my brag and the person of the question I had already devoted years of my beingness to."

"The 2nd clip I was forced, against my will, and successful an situation wherever I felt trapped," Huerta wrote. "I had experienced maltreatment and intersexual unit before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure unsocial and successful secret."

Huerta did not specify erstwhile the encounters occurred, but to picture herself arsenic a "young parent successful the 1960s," erstwhile she would person been successful her 30s.

Huerta said some instances led to pregnancies, which she carried and delivered successful secret. She "arranged for (the children) to beryllium raised by different families that could springiness them unchangeable lives" aft they were born, she said. Huerta said that she has developed a narration with those children, but that "no 1 knew the afloat information astir however they were conceived until conscionable a fewer weeks ago."

Huerta said that the allegations against Chavez sicken her and that her "heart aches for everyone who suffered unsocial and successful soundlessness for years." She besides wrote that "there are nary words beardown capable to condemn" Chavez's "deplorable actions."

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"I person ne'er identified myself arsenic a victim, but I present recognize that I americium a subsister — of violence, of intersexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and different women, arsenic property, oregon things to control. ... I person kept this concealed agelong enough. My soundlessness ends here."

Huerta said that the allegations against Chavez "do not bespeak the values of our assemblage and our movement" and said that she believed the "farmworker question has ever been bigger and acold much important than immoderate 1 individual." The Dolores Huerta Foundation website includes resources for intersexual battle survivors.

The UFW said that it is distancing itself from Chavez, and abstaining from participating successful Cesar Chavez Day activities, which observe his birthday. It is simply a formal vacation successful California, Utah, Arizona and Washington. The national called the allegations against him "crushing," CBS Sacramento reported.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation said that it is "deeply shocked and saddened" by the allegations, and moving with the UFW to respond, according to CBS Sacramento.

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