assault

Content note: This story contains details of sexual violence. 

Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta is one of several women in the United States speaking out against the sexual violence they say they endured at the hands of labour leader Cesar Chavez.

In a statement on Wednesday, Huerta said she was motivated to speak out after being contacted for an investigation by The New York Times, which revealed that children as young as age 12 were abused by Chavez.

“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Huerta wrote.

“Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences.”

Chavez, who died in 1993, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association alongside Huerta and other advocates. They rose to fame during the US civil rights movement of the 1960s, practising nonviolent protest techniques similar to those of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Together, Chavez, Huerta and other advocates drew attention to the abuses facing vulnerable immigrant farmworkers, particularly in the Hispanic and Filipino American communities.

Some of the slogans from the movement continue to have resonance in the US political sphere.

The Spanish phrase “si, se puede” — or, in English, “yes, we can” — was adopted as the campaign slogan for President Barack Obama, while the Tagalog phrase “isang bagsak” continues to be a rallying cry for collective organising.

The fight for equality and fair labour practices that Huerta and Chavez led would be remembered as one of the defining moments of the 1960s.

But it was out of fear of denting the burgeoning civil rights movement that Huerta and other women say they stayed silent about Chavez’s abuse.

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” Huerta said in her statement.

“I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.”

Huerta explained that the first time she had sex with Chavez, she was “manipulated and pressured” into submitting to his advances while on a trip to San Juan Capistrano.

“I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” she said.

The second time, she said she was “forced, against my will”. The New York Times investigation includes a summary of what Huerta says happened: She was in a car that Chavez was driving when he parked in an isolated grape field and raped her.

Both instances resulted in pregnancies, which Huerta says she kept secret. The children were ultimately given to other families to raise.

“I had experienced abuse and sexual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret,” she said.

Her story was echoed by the accounts of other women featured in The New York Times investigation.

One of the interviewees, Ana Murguia, said she was 13 when a 45-year-old Chavez kissed her, took off her clothes and tried to have sex with her in his locked office.

He had known her since she was eight years old, and the abuse at his hands prompted her to attempt suicide.

Debra Rojas, meanwhile, was 12 years old when Chavez began groping her. She described being 15 when she was raped by him at a motel near Stockton, California.

A third woman, Esmeralda Lopez, said she was 19 when Chavez tried to pressure her to have sex with him while they were alone on a tour, offering to use his influence to get something named in her honour.

Lopez said she refused his advances, and her mother, a fellow activist, corroborated her account, based on conversations they had at the time.

The women explained that they grappled with whether to come forward and whether they would be believed, given Chavez’s rise to fame as a civil rights hero.

In response to the widening scandal on Wednesday, United Farm Workers — the group that emerged from the National Farm Workers Association — announced it would not participate in any events on Cesar Chavez Day, a federal commemoration that falls on the late leader’s birthday.

The group denied receiving any direct reports of abuse, but it pledged to create a pathway for reports to be submitted.

“Over the coming weeks, in partnership with experts in these kinds of processes, we are working to establish an external, confidential, independent channel for those who may have experienced harm caused by Cesar Chavez,” United Farm Workers wrote in a statement.

“These allegations have been profoundly shocking. We need some time to get this right, including to ensure robust, trauma-informed services are available to those who may need it.”

Lawmakers across the political spectrum, from Texas Governor Greg Abbott to New Mexico Representative Ben Ray Lujan, also called for Chavez’s name to be stripped from public buildings, roads and other places of honour.

Lujan called the revelations in Wednesday’s New York Times report “horrific” and a “betrayal of the values that Latino leaders have championed for generations”.

“His name should be removed from landmarks, institutions, and honors,” Lujan said of Chavez. “We cannot celebrate someone who carried out such disturbing harm.”

Huerta, meanwhile, said that, in the wake of the investigation, community advocacy was more important than ever.

“I have kept this secret long enough,” she wrote. “My silence ends here.”

The Israeli military has launched waves of air raids across southern Lebanon after announcing “limited and targeted ground operations” against Hezbollah positions. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr is in Marjayoun, which has been turned into an active war zone following clashes.

MCC Resources Sarl, a mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has suspended its activities in the country, following an attack on its mining sites in the Mambasa territory of Ituri province. On the night of March 11 to 12, terrorists attacked the mining site, killing scores, looting, and destroying facilities. 

The Allied Defence Forces (ADF), an affiliate of the Islamic State, recently claimed responsibility for the attack. Local sources told HumAngle that the ADF members came from Bapere, in Lubero territory of North Kivu. MCC Resources Sarl is a Congolese company with foreign investors, operating in compliance with the laws and economic standards of the DRC.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on gold mining sites operated by the Chinese Kimia Mining Enterprise, publishing photographs that showed burning trucks, tractors, and camps. 

The new attack is fueling debates on the realities faced by economic operators in the strategic gold mining zone, as well as on the impact of armed violence on the national mining investments in the DRC

“In an official correspondence addressed to the military governor of Ituri, the MCC Resources management indicates that due to the persistent degradation of the security situation in the Eastern part of the country, it had proceeded with the preventive evacuation of its personnel several weeks before the attack. According to the company, the incursion of armed groups not formally identified in the Muchacha site has led to acts of looting and sabotage aimed at its mining installations, without, however, causing the loss of human lives,” the company revealed in a statement released on March 15.

Faced with security risks deemed very high, MCC Resources announced the suspension of all mining activities at its Muchacha and Mavuvu sites until further notice, adding that its employees and partners remain its top priority. The company says it is following the evolution of the security situation to envisage, at the right moment, the progressive resumption of its operations.

The Congolese government has condemned the attack. In a communique also published on March 15, the government extended its condolences to the families of the victims and expressed its compassion to the populations of Mambasa territory affected.

Feb. 28 (UPI) — Authorities arrested singer Cher’s son, Elijah Allman, for allegedly trespassing and causing a disturbance at a New Hampshire private school, Concord police said.

Known professionally as P. Exeter Blue I, the lead singer of the group Deadsy, he was arrested around 6 p.m. Friday at St. Paul’s School. WMUR-TV in Concord reported that police received information that he was causing a disturbance in the elite prep school’s dining hall.

The Concord Police Department confirmed the arrest to People magazine.

Elijah Allman, 49, has no known connection to the school.

He faces multiple charges, including two counts of simple assault, criminal trespass, criminal threatening and disorderly conduct.

Elijah Allman was detained at Merrimack County Jail and released on personal recognizance, which means no bail was required.

Elijah Allman is the son of Cher and the late Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band. Cher did not immediately respond to a request for comment by People.

As court documents tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein continue to surface, the scandal has become an international embarrassment, exposing how quickly powerful men can turn into reputational liabilities. That discomfort reached New Delhi, where Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates was expected to deliver the keynote address at the AI Impact Summit but ultimately did not attend amid criticism and apparent unease within the Modi government over his past meetings with Epstein. The spectacle was revealing. Public moral outrage travels swiftly when scandal threatens reputations and diplomatic optics. Yet that sensitivity to association sits uneasily beside a domestic reality in which sexual violence against women unfolds with brutal regularity, drawing neither comparable embarrassment nor consequence. The contrast is grotesque. A political culture capable of signalling discomfort towards a global scandal remains strikingly untroubled by the everyday brutality faced by women at home.

Under the Modi administration, the news cycle churns with reports of gang rapes like factory output — steady, relentless, and numbing in repetition. The rapes have become so common that they are reported like the weather. Heatwave deaths. Flash flood. Five-year-old abducted, raped, murdered. And like the weather, only God is responsible. Not the rapist. Not the court. Not the police. Definitely not the prime minister.

Between the time this piece was commissioned and published, a five-year-old was gang-raped in Meerut, a 26-year-old was gang-raped in Faridabad, and a 17-year-old was gang-raped in Odisha. A 42-year-old was gang-raped in Delhi’s suburbs. A 12-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped in Bikaner. There were more gang rapes in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Kanpur. I could give you statistics, but numbers could never convey the larger, all-encompassing terror of living with predators. The threat of sexual violence is as constant as gravity. The cases are gruesome — intestines pulled out, rods inserted, tongues cut out, acid thrown, decapitation, strangulation, and burning. When I look at government data about rape — an average of 86 women are raped every day — it feels as grisly as stumbling upon a mass grave in Excel sheets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his home minister, Amit Shah, ostensibly obsessed with restoring law and order at any cost, seem entirely unconcerned that India is the gang rape capital of the world on their watch.

The most alarming instance of this was when convicted rapist and Bharatiya Janata Party politician Kuldeep Singh Sengar, found guilty of raping a minor in 2017 and a native of Makhi village in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, was granted bail by a high court, raising the possibility of his reintegration into the very social and political landscape that had once enabled his impunity. A high court granted him bail in December. Thankfully, it was stayed by the Supreme Court, but only after infuriated women gathered in Delhi to protest. Sengar had raped a teenager, who was also gang-raped by his associates. Her father was murdered in police custody. A case was registered only after she threatened to burn herself in front of the chief minister’s residence. Her tragic story showcases how Indian men, like the Modi administration, remain remarkably unembarrassed about the state of affairs.

Sadly, this is not an aberration; it is the system speaking in its mother tongue.

Public memory matters because each new case unfolds against the residue of the ones we were told would change everything. In 2012, I read about the “Nirbhaya” gang rape three days after the incident, on my way from the airport. I had been deliberately avoiding the news until she ended up at Safdarjung Hospital, and my editor needed a health update from me. After I learned all the details of what men had done to this young woman, I thought the world would stand still. A threshold had been crossed. Something told me the world would start anew. There were protests, and people everywhere would know her name, and something like this would never happen again.

All of my naivety was drowned in a chorus of “Not All Men”, as the gang rape was turned into something viral to hang a hashtag on. The refrain did not defend innocence so much as redirect attention away from accountability and back towards male comfort.

It is impossible for me to hear of such cases and not think: What if it were me? My body. That rod. Those men. The suffering and mutilation of women’s bodies is so reliable that there is now a market to help ease our fear. Security apps. Pepper sprays and wearable panic alarms. Every time I write about this subject, I sit with the absolute inadequacy of the written word in the face of men who film the rapes, brag about them, and get rehabilitated nevertheless.

It wouldn’t be out of place to call this moment unprecedented, but it is beyond that. It is existential. Whether it is the United States or India, women are watching the same choreography of power protecting itself, as men of consequence close ranks and wait out the storm. The similarity lies not in scale or context, but in the recurring spectacle of institutions cushioning powerful men while survivors fight alone. For a while now, both countries — allegedly the biggest and the oldest democracies — have been on a trajectory of self-destruction, with men leading the way. Under Modi as well as Trump, rape has become an extension of politics. Women are violated no longer by men alone, but by courts, hospitals, and newsrooms, too. It is the age of monsters. It did not begin with Epstein, Gates, or Sengar, of course, but they are the symbols of it.

While the middle class was busy buying into the dream of upward mobility, careerism, and two bedrooms in a gated suburb, we let thugs cultivate a wholesale misogynist empire that runs on hate for women. I do not know what to do with the rage I feel. What do you do when you are constantly told that your body, your people, your gender are disposable? I don’t know.

What I do know is that the teenager who survived Sengar is still fighting for justice. I know that the survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking network are fighting for justice, too. These women are fighting with heart and soul and sweat and muscle. I know that I have no right to be despondent while they stand tall, looking every inch the hero they are. I also know that nobody puts up a fight like that unless you love your sisters.

At this dark hour, it feels important to place on record that as the Modi administration recoils theatrically from the shadow of the Epstein scandal at the summit stage, the satire writes itself. A government that cannot, or will not, protect its women should be far more ashamed of what is ordinary than of what is scandalous.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Feb. 24 (UPI) — Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty to two additional sexual charges in a British court Tuesday, including one for rape.

Brand, 50, was charged in December with the rape and sexual assault of two women, which allegedly happened in 2009. He appeared at Southwark Crown Court for the plea and trial preparation hearing.

He has pleaded not guilty charges of two counts of rape, one charge of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault for offenses against four women that happened between 1999 and 2005.

He appeared Tuesday in a glass-paneled dock carrying a Bible stuffed with sticky notes. He spoke to confirm his name and plea.

Judge Joel Nathan Bennathan said, “Mr. Brand I’m sure you’ve heard everything we’ve been talking about. I will renew your bail.”

Bennathan asked if Brand understood his bail conditions, and Brand replied, “Yes, your lordship.”

His trial on the other five charges is expected later this year.

Brand has previously denied all allegations against him.

He is also a defendant in a civil case that alleges he sexually assaulted an anonymous plaintiff on the set of the remake movie “Arthur” in 2010.

Brand was married to singer Katy Perry from October 2010 to December 2011. He is now married to Laura Gallacher, who is the mother of Brand’s two daughters and a son.

Appearing in a London court, Brand denies accusations of raping one woman ​and sexually assaulting another in 2009.

British comedian and actor Russell Brand ⁠has pleaded not guilty to two further charges of rape and sexual assault nearly ⁠two decades ago.

Brand appeared at Southwark Crown ⁠Court in London on Tuesday and denied accusations of raping one woman and sexually assaulting a second woman in 2009.

Once one of the United Kingdom’s most high-profile broadcasters, he was charged last year with two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and two ‌counts of sexual assault against four women between 1999 and 2005.

Brand pleaded not guilty in May last year to those five charges and is due to stand trial in June. A hearing will be held next month to decide whether the new allegations should be joined to that case, with Brand’s lawyer ⁠saying his client needs more time to address ⁠the latest offences.

“These new charges are in relation to two further women and are in addition to the charges issued to Brand in April 2025, which involved four women,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement in December.

Brand, 50, arrived at court wearing a white cowboy hat and sunglasses. Asked how he was feeling, the actor, who said in 2024 he had become ⁠a Christian, told reporters he was feeling “blessed”.

Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east of London, Brand began his stand-up career as a teenager, eventually working as an MTV presenter and host of a reality TV series.

A regular on British screens in the ⁠2000s, he was known for his flamboyant ⁠style and appearance. He also worked as a radio presenter for the BBC.

Brand starred in several films, including Get Him to the Greek in 2010, the ‌same year he married American pop star Katy Perry. They divorced in 2012 after 14 months of marriage.

By the early 2020s, Brand had faded from ‌mainstream ‌culture and has since largely appeared online, airing his views on US politics and free speech.

Italian cricket is in crisis days after the country’s T20 World Cup debut, as it emerged that a senior national governing body official has been investigated over a sexual assault allegation.

Federazione Cricket Italiana (FCRI) women’s cricket co-ordinator Prabath Ekneligoda, 57, was the subject of a criminal investigation relating to a claim he inappropriately touched a member of the Azzurri women’s national team.

Multiple members of the Italy board are said to have resigned over this case and other governance issues, BBC Sport has been told.

The sexual assault allegation was made to police in Rome in March last year by a player who has represented the national team.

The player, whose identity is protected for legal reasons, alleged that the sexual assault occurred during a massage on a knee injury at a training session, and she had been scared to report the incident because she feared it would cost her a spot in the team.

An investigation was concluded by a Rome prosecutor in November 2025 and Ekneligoda was interviewed by police the following month.

A decision is now set to be made on whether there is sufficient evidence to bring it to trial. Ekneligoda’s lawyer said his client denies the allegations, that there are ulterior motives to the allegations, and that a witness supports his version of events.

FCRI said in a statement to BBC Sport it “noted proceedings are currently under way before the federal prosecutor’s office” and will “co-operate with the relevant authorities”.

“The Italian Cricket Federation reiterates that its conduct is guided by principles of fairness, transparency and the protection of its registered members, as well as by the ethical and civic standards that underpin the sporting system,” added the statement.

“The federation therefore defers to the competent judicial authorities for any determinations arising from the matter.”

Ekneligoda, who is originally from Sri Lanka, was suspended from his role with the FCRI in November but has remained a visible presence on the Italian cricket scene.

He is the partner of FCRI president Maria Lorena Haz Paz and accompanied her to India for the men’s T20 World Cup.

BBC Sport has seen evidence that Ekneligoda attended Italy’s matches wearing official accreditation and was permitted to sit with the rest of the FCRI party.

Ekneligoda was also seen at various events laid on for Italy’s cricket delegation, including a reception at the Italian consulate in Kolkata for officials, players and coaching staff.

The FCRI, its president Haz Paz, and safeguarding officers, had full knowledge of the seriousness of the claims made against Ekneligoda before the World Cup.

Last weekend, Il Messaggero, external and Corriere della Sera, external reported the allegations in the Italian media for the first time.

As of Monday, Ekneligoda was still listed as the women’s cricket coordinator on the FCRI website.

Sources have told BBC Sport that some members of the FCRI’s board have resigned over the matter, and other governance issues, which has placed Haz Paz’s position under greater scrutiny.

Senior officials in Italian cricket fear potential reputational damage, and the possibility of legal cases, will hamper opportunities to capitalise on their debut T20 World Cup appearance and grow the game further in the country.

Haz Paz was appointed president of the Italian cricket federation in February 2025 until 2028.

Italy’s debut at the T20 World Cup, and the stories of some of their players, had captured the imagination of the cricket world.

The Azzurri failed to make the Super 8 stage but beat Nepal in Mumbai and gave England a scare in Kolkata in their Group C fixtures.