MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Even people who know little about the farmworkers movement probably know the name Cesar Chavez, who spent decades fighting for better working conditions for farmworkers. Here he is in a recording from 1966.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CESAR CHAVEZ: We are human beings whose sweat and sacrifice brings food to the tables of millions and millions of people across America and around the world.
MARTIN: Now that legacy has been tarnished. This week, a New York Times investigation details claims that Chavez sexually abused very young girls and women, including his United Farm Workers co-founder, Dolores Huerta. This news has shaken many who admired Chavez as a social justice icon. To talk about that, we've called Monica Ramirez. She is the founder of the group Justice for Migrant Women. Good morning, Miss Ramirez. Thank you so much for talking with us.
MONICA RAMIREZ: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: Now, we should say that NPR has not independently verified the claims in The New York Times story, but it is very detailed in its reporting. Do you remember your reaction when you learned of this?
RAMIREZ: You know, I think, like many, I was, you know, shocked. It's devastating. It's very sad. It's very confusing. I think a lot of people, including myself - it felt a bit bewildering, right? Because it's hard to believe, especially when so many of us have grown up looking up to Cesar. So to learn this information, it just kind of, I would say, shook me to my core a bit.
MARTIN: I can imagine. I mean, the idea that somebody who stood up for the vulnerable was taking advantage of the most vulnerable but also what his co-founder, Dolores Huerta, says happened to her is deeply upsetting. I mean, Huerta...
RAMIREZ: Yes.
MARTIN: ...Says that she felt pressured to have sex with him on one occasion, that he raped her on another occasion. You've worked with Huerta. How are you hearing that?
RAMIREZ: I mean, I grew up looking up to both of them, Dolores and Cesar. You know, I understood them to be partners in the work and building the movement, leading the movement. And so reading the article, like, I felt like it broke me a bit. And I just - I feel so deeply for Dolores and for the other survivors that came forward because I also know, you know, having done work serving survivors over so many years, just what it takes to come forward.
MARTIN: You know, there's a debate about the parks and streets, schools named for Cesar Chavez. You know, some states have a Cesar Chavez Day, March 31, which is coming up soon. What do you think people should do?
RAMIREZ: I think right now, people need to give space and time to absorb this information. They're still in shock. There's a process that people are going to have to go through. There's - people are grieving. So I think that right now, the focus has got to be on helping community process this information, figuring out the way forward in terms of supporting the survivors who have come forward and more survivors who might come forward. I really think as somebody who serves survivors that the focus really needs to be on people right now.
And the other thing I feel is, you know, Cesar Chavez was a visionary leader not just in the farmworker movement but in the workers' rights movement and did important work to make great change. And that is true. And now we're learning about these allegations of sexual violence, and both things can be true at the same time. And so I think that is something that people are going to have to wrestle with a bit, you know?
MARTIN: These allegations go back decades, but I want to ask about the present moment. Is sexual violence against migrant women still a problem today?
RAMIREZ: Yes. And sexual violence against farmworker women and migrant women, it's been a problem over many decades, and it's an issue and an area that has never been resourced to the extent that is needed to actually be able to address the problem. You know, there are a lot of risk factors that exist for farmworker women. They're often working in isolation. They have often limited information about their rights. Sometimes they're non-English speakers. And there are perpetrators that take advantage of that vulnerability.
MARTIN: So before I let you go, you said you think people need time to kind of work through what they've learned, how they feel about it, and what they should do going forward. Do you mind if I ask, what do you think your process is going to be going forward? How do you think you're going to come to grips with this?
RAMIREZ: I think that being in conversation and community, talking through it myself with other people. There is grieving. You know, I'm sure I'm going to shed some - a lot of tears, probably. But I really do think that this is something that for me, personally, that I need to process with other people. And, you know, I think it's going to be a journey.
MARTIN: That's Monica Ramirez. She's the founder of the group Justice for Migrant Women. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us.
RAMIREZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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