Paris Hilton claims she was dragged, stripped and drugged in teen establishments – National
In poignant testimony before the US Congress on Wednesday, Paris Hilton recounted the abuse she faced while institutionalized as a teenager in “for-profit” youth behavioral treatment centers.
Hilton told the House Ways and Means Committee that she was “force-fed and sexually assaulted by staff” at four different residential facilities during teenagers in difficulty.
The media mogul appeared before the committee, a federal agency responsible for crafting fiscal legislation, including taxes, tariffs and social service programs, to advocate for better support for children in foster care reception.
Although Hilton has never been in foster care, the 43-year-old said she “knows the harm” caused to young people placed in youth residential treatment centers.
Paris Hilton testified before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on June 26, 2024 to advocate for better protections for youth in foster care and juvenile residential facilities.
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“When I was 16, I was taken from my bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential treatment centers,” she said. describe. “These programs promised healing, growth and support, but did not allow me to speak, move freely or even look out the window for two years. »
Hilton said she was “violently restrained, dragged through the halls, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement” while in care.
She claimed her parents were “completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing.”
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Hilton said children housed in youth facilities, whether in foster care or otherwise, are “innocent children who have not committed crimes.”
She has long campaigned for better protection of institutionalized children and adolescents.
In 2021, she wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post in which she called her experience in youth facilities “aParent-approved abduction.”
Hilton said his parents, who sought to manage his rebellious behavior, were misled by “troubled teen industry” – a billion-dollar enterprise, including therapeutic boarding schools, military-style boot camps and behavior modification programs.
The socialite recalls her inability to communicate with the outside world or talk to her parents about the abuse she suffered while institutionalized. Hilton said she was “choked, slapped in the face, spied on while showering and deprived of sleep” while undergoing treatment programs.
In recent years, advocates like Hilton have become more vocal about the mistreatment of institutionalized youth, particularly as news about children dying in group homes and other American facilities has made international headlines.
On Wednesday, Hilton called on Congress to pass the Law against institutional child abusewhich outlines better support, best practices and monitoring for youth residential facilities.
In his 2020 documentary It’s Parisshe spoke about her time at Provo Canyon School in Utah – an institution she has repeatedly called for to be closed. She said she suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse while in prison.
Provo Canyon School responded in 2021 to Hilton’s abuse allegations and said it could not comment because the organization is now under different management.
“My parents had no idea. They just thought it would be a normal boarding school,” Hilton said of the Provo Canyon School. “And when I got there, there was no therapy. We would just constantly be torn down, abused, yelled at, yelled at. No education at all. I learned nothing from it other than the trauma.
America’s troubled teen industry reportedly received 23 billion US dollars of public funds each year to provide care to youth living in foster families or facilities specializing in the treatment of minors with behavioral and psychological needs. An estimated 120,000 to 200,000 juveniles are placed in juvenile residential programs in the United States each year.
On Wednesday, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that many states fail to monitor how often children in foster care are abused. The new report says more than a dozen states don’t track abuse, including sexual assault and inappropriate physical restraint, that occurs within a single facility or at facilities owned by the same company.
During her appearance before Congress, Hilton offered words of support for children and adolescents in foster care and rehabilitation programs.
“If you are a child in the system, listen to my words: I see you. I believe you. I know what you’re going through and I won’t give up on you,” she said. “You are important, your future is important and you deserve every opportunity to be safe and supported. »
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