We stand in solidarity with Dolores Huerta and with all survivors of sexual violence who have come forward to share their experiences, often at great personal cost, as well as those whose stories we may never hear.
Ms. Huerta’s recent statement, along with ongoing revelations connected to the Epstein cases and other stories of abuse by powerful elites, has brought painful truths back into public view. For many survivors and advocates, these moments are reminders of how often violence is minimized or ignored, and how rarely those with power are held accountable.
Dolores Huerta’s words also speak to something deeper and more difficult. Sexual violence is not only something that happens among the wealthy or in the headlines; it exists in every community, including our own. It happens within families, workplaces, movements, and relationships with people we know and trust. Naming that reality can bring up grief, uncertainty, and fear, especially when it challenges what we believed about the people and institutions we care about.
We are living in a time when many people already feel less safe, with increasing attacks on immigrants, LGBTQ+ communities, and survivors, and with public conversations about sexual violence that often become spectacle instead of accountability. For survivors and advocates, this moment can feel exhausting and discouraging. Violence is exposed, debated, politicized, and too often left unresolved, leaving many with the sense that nothing changes, and that as a culture we talk about sexual violence over and over, but struggle to take the deeper actions needed to prevent it.
Dolores Huerta’s words remind us how painful it can be to hold more than one truth at the same time– to honor the impact of a movement while also naming the abuse that happened within it. These moments can bring grief, anger, and confusion, especially when the violence is connected to people or institutions we trusted, or to communities we are part of ourselves.
Standing with survivors means staying with that discomfort and telling the truth about violence. Accountability is not a threat to our movements; it is part of what gives them integrity.
This is something everyone can do right now: listen to and honor the stories of survivors who are speaking out, and keep doing the everyday work of shifting how we talk about sexual violence, naming abuse honestly, and building communities where safety, dignity, and healing are possible for everyone.