Should I participate in a truth commission if my abuser might go unpunished?

This question cuts to something Sor Juana grappled with her entire life: the gap between intellectual truth and institutional power. You're asking whether testimony matters if it doesn't lead to punishment, and that deserves a real answer, not a comfortable one. For some survivors, the answer is absolutely yes—being heard, believed, and formally documented shifts something internal and social that criminal prosecution might not. It names what happened. It breaks isolation. It becomes history. For others, especially those who wanted accountability through the legal system, a commission without prosecution feels like another theft—another instance of your harm being less important than institutional convenience. Both responses are valid. What matters is being honest with yourself about what you actually need, and whether this particular commission can provide it. Some people find that documenting the truth is itself a form of power—it becomes material that can't be denied later, that shapes education and policy. Others find it re-traumatizing without concrete consequences. You're not obligated to heal the nation's conscience. You're only obligated to yourself. Know the commission's actual powers before deciding.