Paris Hilton recounts child abuse in congressional testimony

Paris Hilton at a House of Representatives committee hearing into child welfare in foster care. "I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff," she said. Photo / Washington Post

Paris Hilton recounted her experiences of institutional child abuse before the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee this week, as she urged Congress to better support youths in foster care.

“When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential treatment facilities,” the socialite scion of the Hilton hotels dynasty told the committee hearing on child welfare.

“These programmes promised healing, growth and support but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely or even look out a window for two years.

“I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement. My parents were completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing.”

Paris Hilton is pushing for reform in what’s often called the “troubled teen” system. Photo / Getty Images

The 43-year-old media personality’s statement was her latest push for reform in what’s often called the “troubled teen” system, a largely unregulated multibillion-dollar industry that includes youth residential facilities. In recent years, Hilton has been testifying in state capitols and Washington DC in support of legislation to better protect youths and bring more oversight to the programmes.

In the 2020 YouTube documentary This Is Paris, she accused staff at Provo Canyon School, a Utah boarding school, of abusing her. Soon afterwards, she led a protest calling for the shutdown of the school, which she called “the worst of the worst”.

In a 2021 opinion article in The Washington Post, she detailed “physical and psychological abuse” she said she endured from staff at all four youth facilities she attended, explaining that she was “choked, slapped across the face, spied on while showering and deprived of sleep”.

READ: Paris: The Memoir review

In a short New York Times video in 2022, her eyes welled up as she recounted how Provo Canyon staff without medical credentials would perform what she was told were “medical exams” on her and other teenage girls in the early morning. “They would have us lay on the table and put their fingers inside of us,” she said.

Hilton rose to fame alongside her friend Nicole Richie in the reality series The Simple Life. In addition to her activism, she’s known as an entrepreneur, influencer, podcaster and DJ.

Before she closed her statement with a call to action for Congress, she sent a message to children in foster care.

“If you are a child in the system, hear 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.”