For immediate release: We stand with survivors

We are heartbroken and outraged by the recent allegations of sexual violence by Cesar Chavez, and by the statement shared by Dolores Huerta. We stand first and foremost with survivors: those who have spoken, those who may come forward, and those who choose not to speak.

Survivors owe no one their stories. We support each person’s autonomy to decide if, when, and how to share their experiences. Silence is not consent; it is often a reflection of systems that have failed to protect, believe, and support.

Survivors do not come forward in a vacuum. When communities, systems, or law enforcement entities dismiss, doubt, or punish those who speak, survivors learn that silence is safer and more protective for themselves and their loved ones. When government entities create hostile environments through over-enforcement, fear, or instability, survivors will not speak, and violence goes unreported. Communities are put at greater risk. Safety is not possible without trust in each other.

We are encouraged by the commitment of the United Farm Workers to provide trauma-informed services and to center the needs of those who may have been harmed. This is what survivor-centered response requires: not only acknowledgment, but resourcing, care, and long-term support.

As Dolores Huerta reminds us, the farmworker movement, like any movement, is bigger than any one individual. The pursuit of justice, dignity, and safety must continue, rooted in truth and accountability. Confronting harm does not weaken movements; it strengthens their integrity.

We again call on all institutions, leaders, and communities to support survivors, create safe systems and pathways for reporting with dignity, and invest in trauma-informed, culturally responsive services.

This call is also personal. For those of us who organize in and alongside Latin@ communities, this moment asks something of us. It asks us not to look away, not to protect legacy at the expense of the people that have been harmed. Esperanza United was built on a singular commitment: that Latin@ survivors deserve to live free from violence, in their homes, in their workplaces, and in their movements. That commitment does not bend for legacy, it does not bend for history, it bends for no one.

To the survivors named in this reporting, and to all survivors holding something heavier today because of it: we see you. Your truth has always mattered, and it matters now.

We continue our work, today and always, recommitting every day to survivor-centered and culturally responsive practices and supports. We will not stop until future generations can live free from gender-based violence.

If you or someone you know needs support, confidential help is available: Nationally, through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE, or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233. In Minnesota, please contact our bilingual Esperanza United Crisis Line at (651) 772-1611

Vivian Huelgo, JD

President and CEO, Esperanza United