Epistemic Justice for Young Voices

Sor Juana's writings demonstrate how institutional power silences certain voices while elevating others. Epistemic justice for children means refusing to dismiss their observations, experiences, and understanding simply because they are young. Children often witness injustices and possess crucial knowledge about their own lives, yet adults systematically discount their testimony. This concept protects children from epistemic injustice—being wrongfully excluded from knowledge-creation and decision-making processes. In children's rights contexts, this means listening genuinely to what children report about abuse, neglect, or discrimination; valuing their input in decisions affecting them; and creating safe channels for their voices to be heard in legal and educational settings. Sor Juana's battle against dismissal based on her gender parallels children's struggle against age-based credibility gaps. Implementing epistemic justice requires structural change: giving children meaningful participation in policy decisions, training adults to recognize their own biases against child testimony, and building institutions that treat young people as knowers, not merely subjects of knowledge.