Systemic Injustice as Context for Individual Harm

Sor Juana lived within interlocking systems of patriarchy, colonialism, religious authoritarianism, and class hierarchy. Her intellectual work consistently traced individual suffering back to these structures. Contemporary restorative justice must do the same: when harm occurs, it often emerges from systemic deprivation, oppression, or normalized violence. A person steals because systems deny them resources; violence erupts in communities starved of opportunity and burdened by historical trauma. Sor Juana's epistemology refuses to separate the personal from the structural. Thus, restorative accountability must include institutional accountability. Communities examining harm ask: What systems enabled this? What inequalities made this possible? Genuine repair includes policy change, resource reallocation, and power redistribution—not just individual rehabilitation. This prevents restorative justice from becoming a tool that demands the oppressed forgive while oppressive structures remain intact. Sor Juana's example shows that true justice names and transforms the systems generating harm.