Paris Hilton Testifies Before Congress About Childhood Abuse

Paris Hilton testified before Congress on Wednesday, advocating for modernizing child care programs.

The “Paris in Love” star and hotel heiress returned to Washington to speak before the House Ways and Means Committee on modernizing the nation’s foster care system.

“When I was 16, I was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and taken across state lines to the first of four housing facilities,” Hilton told a congressional committee.

“For two years I was forced to administer medications and sexually harassed by staff. I was brutally restrained… stripped naked, thrown into solitary confinement,” she told lawmakers.

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Hilton stated that her parents, Hilton & Hyland co-founder Rick Hilton and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kathy Hilton, were “completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry regarding the inhumane treatment I experienced.” “.

“So can you just imagine the experience of young people who have been placed by the state and don’t have people checking on them regularly?” – she told parliamentarians.

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“This $23 billion-a-year industry views this population as dollar signs and operates without meaningful oversight,” Hilton added.

She continued: “What is more important? Protecting business profits or protecting the lives of children in foster care?”

Hilton, who welcomed her son Phoenix with husband Carter Reum in January, said she is “here to be a voice for children whose voices cannot be heard.”

“As a mom, these stories break my heart,” she told congressional committee members.

Paris Hilton has long advocated for child safety issues in state capitols and on Capitol Hill

In recent years, Hilton has become one of Hollywood’s leading child safety advocates.

In 2022, Hilton went to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers and spoke outside the US Capitol building, surrounded by dozens of survivors with placards. Through tears, she said she was not ready to speak out about the sexual harassment she experienced, but recommended others read the USA TODAY article.

In the article, she spoke for the first time about her memories of being physically forced to undergo “sham” gynecological examinations in the middle of the night.

“If we tried to protest or question anything, they would say it was a bad dream,” Hilton wrote in the column. “They told us to stop making things up. But looking back on these experiences as an adult woman, I can recognize these studies for what they were: child sexual assault.”

Since she first spoke out about her abuse, she has met with lawmakers in Utah and D.C., including senators and White House staffers.

Paris Hilton previously addressed allegations of abuse in the 2020 documentary This Is Paris

In her September 2020 documentary “This Is Paris,” Hilton made disturbing accusations against the Colorado boarding school she attended as a teenager, alleging that she experienced verbal, emotional and physical abuse and suffered from insomnia, anxiety and trust issues.

In the YouTube Originals documentary, Hilton claims that her turbulent teenage years were the result of experiencing verbal, emotional and physical abuse during the 11 months she attended Provo Canyon School, a Utah boarding school for troubled teenagers. She added that the trauma caused her anxiety, trust issues and insomnia.

Collaboration: Hannah Yasharoff