Epistemic Justice and Voice Restoration

Epistemic injustice occurs when someone's testimony or knowledge is dismissed because of who they are—a pattern Sor Juana experienced as a woman, a mestiza, and an intellectual outsider. In punitive systems, harmed people are often reduced to witnesses or victims whose job is to report facts, while experts and institutions interpret meaning and determine justice. Restorative frameworks reject this hierarchy by treating the harmed person as the primary knower of their own experience and needs. Sor Juana's defense of women's intellectual authority suggests that restoration requires centering the victim's interpretation: their account of harm, their understanding of what went wrong, and their vision of repair. This shifts power from distant institutions back to those directly affected, honoring their epistemic authority and lived expertise.