Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta said in a statement released on Wednesday that she was sexually abused by César Chávez, expanding on a New York Times investigation alleging the late labor leader groomed and abused young girls and women during his time as president of the United Farm Workers (UFW).

Huerta, co-founder of the UFW, published her statement on Medium after she shared her story publicly for the first time with the New York Times.

“I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here,” Huerta, 95, wrote in the statement on Wednesday.

Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that “exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for”.

She said that, following the Times investigation, she “can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences”.

Huerta said that in the 1960s Chávez once “manipulated and pressured” her to have sex with him. The second time, she said, he forced her to have sex “against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped”. Both encounters led to pregnancies, and she later arranged for the children 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 the secret for as long as she did “because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work” and she wasn’t going “to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way” of forming the union, which she described as the only vehicle to secure those rights.

“I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor – of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control,” she said.

She chose to tell her story because the Times indicated “that I was not the only one – there were others”.

Huerta added: “Women are coming forward, sharing that they were sexually abused and assaulted by Cesar when they were girls and teenagers.”

Huerta extended her support to those “who suffered alone and in silence for years” and reiterated that Chávez’s actions “do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people”.

Huerta told the New York Times about a sexual encounter in 1966, when Chávez drove Huerta, then 36, to a secluded grape field, parked and raped her. She also recounted an earlier incident from August 1960, when she said she felt pressured to have sex with him in a hotel room in southern California.

The report also told the stories of two women, who were daughters of organizers within the farmworker movement, who said they were children when Chávez began to groom and sexually abuse them.

Lawmakers and organizations affiliated with Chávez have begun to distance themselves from the late labor leader, and have described the allegations as “troubling”, “shocking” and “disturbing”. César Chávez Day events, celebrating his birthday on 31 March, are being canceled or rebranded amid the allegations.

“Words are inadequate to heal the trauma of Dolores Huerta and the courageous women who have already come forward, but may it be a comfort that so many people are praying and expressing support for them during this unimaginable time,” reads a statement by US House speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi, with whom Huerta has a close friendship.

Huerta and Chávez founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962, the predecessor of the UFW, which formed three years later, according to the National Women’s History Museum. Huerta was the driving force behind the late-1960s national table grape boycotts, which ultimately secured a landmark union contract in 1970.

Huerta continues to work in activism as the founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. She travels across the country participating in campaigns and supporting legislation that defends civil rights and equality, and also speaks to students and organizations about social justice issues and public policy. In 2024, Huerta endorsed the presidential candidate Kamala Harris, describing her as someone who has “worked tirelessly to keep families united, reduce everyday costs and support organized labor”.