Almost two decades ago, legendary labor rights activist Dolores Huerta spoke about the need to empower women farmworkers to speak out about sexual exploitation.

大约二十年前，传奇劳工权益活动家多洛雷斯·韦尔塔（Dolores Huerta）曾谈到，有必要赋予女性农场工人力量，让她们勇敢揭露所遭受的性剥削。

Little did anyone know at the time that Huerta herself had been sexually abused at the hands of icon César Chavez, who in 1962 co-founded the organization now known as the United Farm Workers with Huerta.

当时谁也不曾想到，韦尔塔本人也曾遭受过标志性人物塞萨尔·查韦斯（César Chavez）的性侵。1962 年，查韦斯与韦尔塔共同创立了如今被称为“全美农场工人联合会”（United Farm Workers）的组织。

To many, Chavez's alleged abuse feels like a betrayal because advocates admired him and credited him with inspiring the movement that galvanized their own organizing efforts. But his shattered legacy does not erase the gains women farmworkers and advocates have made on their own.

对许多人来说，查韦斯涉嫌性侵的行为像是一种背叛。因为支持者们一直仰慕他，并认为正是他点燃了这场运动的火种，进而激励了他们自身的组织行动。然而，他的形象轰然崩塌，却抹不去女性农业工人与倡导者们凭一己之力所赢得的一切。

In the three decades since Chavez died in 1993, the network of grassroots organizations led by women farmworkers has grown, pushing for federal and state investigations into sexual abuse on farms and laws mandating sexual harassment training. A watershed moment in building awareness came in 1999 when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission won a $1.85 million settlement on behalf of a California worker who was subjected to sexual advances by her managers and fired when she complained.

自 1993 年查韦斯离世至今，三十年间，由女性农工主导的草根组织网络持续壮大，不断推动联邦与州政府对农场性侵行为展开调查，并推动立法，强制要求开展性骚扰防治培训。

It's hard to say how much sexual violence against women farmworkers has eased as a result of government enforcement and growing outreach and educational efforts. Still, in regions where the most robust legal protections and protective programs have been put into place, women farmworkers say things have started to improve.

意识觉醒的关键转折发生在 1999 年。当时，美国平等就业机会委员会（EEOC）代表一名加州女工，赢得了 185 万美元的和解赔偿。这名女工曾遭上司屡次性骚扰，并在投诉后遭到解雇。

In her statement saying that Chavez raped her in the 1960s, Huerta said she kept her secret for so long because she feared that "exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement", but today, she understands that she is a "survivor, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control."

政府执法力度的加强，以及持续推进的宣传与教育工作，究竟在多大程度上遏制了针对女性农工的性暴力，目前仍难有定论。尽管如此，在法律保障与保护项目最为健全的地区，女性农工们表示，境况已悄然改观。