Paris Hilton Testifies Before Congress on Capitol Hill About Child Sexual Abuse

Paris Hilton testified before Congress on Wednesday in favor of modernizing child welfare programs.

The “Paris, Love, and Hotel Heiress” star 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 ripped out of bed in the middle of the night and taken across state lines to my first of four residential facilities,” Hilton told a congressional committee.

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

Paris Hilton Shares Carter Reum’s Wedding details: “Of course he cried”

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

“Can you imagine what young people go through who are placed by the state and have no one to take care of them on a regular basis?” she told lawmakers.

“We are all survivors”: Paris Hilton alleges widespread abuse at her former school in new documentary

“This $23 billion-a-year industry treats this population like 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 last January, said she is “here to be a voice for kids whose voices can’t be heard.”

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

Paris Hilton has long been a vocal advocate for children’s safety in state capitals 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 U.S. Capitol building, surrounded by dozens of survivors holding signs. Through tears, she said she was not ready to speak out about the sexual harassment she experienced, but she recommended others read her USA TODAY op-ed.

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

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

Since she first spoke out about her abuse, she has met with lawmakers in Utah and the District of Columbia, including senators and White House staff.

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

In her September 2020 documentary “This Is Paris,” Hilton made disturbing allegations about the Colorado boarding school she attended as a teenager, alleging that she was subjected to 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 youth. She said the trauma left her with anxiety, trust issues and insomnia.

Collaboration: Hannah Yasharoff

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paris Hilton Testifies Before Congress About Child Molestation