Paris Hilton testifies before Congress on Capitol Hill about childhood sexual abuse
Paris Hilton testified before Congress while advocating to modernize child welfare programs Wednesday.
The "Paris in Love" star and hotel heiress returned to Washington, D.C. to speak before the House Ways and Means committee about the modernization of the country's foster care system.
"When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my bed in the middle of night and transported across state lines to the first of four residential facilities," Hilton told the congressional committee.
"For two years, I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained … stripped naked, thrown in solitary confinement," she told lawmakers.
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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 for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing."
"So, can you only imagine the experience for youth who were placed by the state and don't have people regularly checking in on them?" she said to lawmakers.
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"This $23 billion-a-year industry sees this population as dollar signs and operates without meaningful oversight," Hilton added.
She continued: "What is more important? Protecting business profits or protecting foster youth lives?"
Hilton, who welcomed her son Phoenix with husband Carter Reum last January, said she is "here to be a voice for the children whose voices can't be heard."
"As a mom, these stories break my heart" she told congressional committee members.
Paris Hilton has long advocated in state capitols and Capitol Hill on behalf of children safety issues
In recent years, Hilton has become one of Hollywood's leading advocates on child safety issues.
In 2022, Hilton went to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers and spoke in front of the U.S. Capitol building and flanked by dozens of survivors holding posters. Through tears, she said that she wasn't ready to speak out loud about the sexual abuse she experienced, but directed others to read an USA TODAY op-ed.
In the piece, she opened up for the first time about recollections of being physically forced into complying with "sham" gynecological exams in the middle of the night.
"If we tried to protest or question anything, they said 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 exams for what they were: the sexual assault of children."
Since first opening up about her own abuse, she has met with lawmakers in Utah and D.C., including senators and White House staff.
Paris Hilton previously addressed abuse allegations in 2020 documentary 'This Is Paris'
In her September 2020 documentary This Is Paris," Hilton leveled disturbing accusations toward a Colorado boarding school she attended as a teenager, claiming she was verbally, emotionally and physically abused and left with insomnia, anxiety and trust issues.
In the YouTube Originals documentary, Hilton alleges her tumultuous young adult 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 teens. The trauma, she said, left her with anxiety, trust issues and insomnia.
Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paris Hilton testifies before Congress about childhood abuse