Paris Hilton stands up for abused kids with an account of her personal childhood experience enduring sexual abuse in the system. The hotel heiress stormed Washington DC this week to stand up for voiceless children, subject to institutional child abuse. During the hearing on Wednesday, the star spotlighted some of the things wrong with the system, including the harsh disciplinary methods like restraint and seclusion.
She believed introducing methods aimed to keep foster homes and other childcare institutions accountable would help better protect kids. To back her claims of abuse running wild in the foster system, Paris Hilton recounted her own experience of being institutionalized as a teen. She admitted to facing sexual abuse from staff and often force-fed medications.
Additionally, staff subjected her to other cruel treatments like violently restraining her, and dragging her through hallways. She also recalled incidents where the staff stripped her naked and days spent in solitary confinement. The abuse experience made a lasting impact on Paris Hilton’s life, which she continues to struggle with. While giving her testimony in DC, the star described the ordeal as isolating and traumatic.
Paris Hilton Gives Kids A Voice in the Face of Abuse
Having gained first-hand experience with callous treatment, Paris Hilton understood how far the system could go to keep the abuse under wrap. She explained,
“It’s really difficult to tell anyone in the outside world. A lot of these kids are not believed because these places tell the parents they’re being lied to and manipulated because they want to go home.”
Paris Hilton has done her bit to give these kids a voice in the face of their sexual, emotional, or physical abuse. She laid out her activism over the years which helped outlaw some harsh disciplinary measures. She also stressed the importance of paying increased visits to these foster homes, which ensures accountability.
Paris Hilton called on federal lawmakers to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. The act, written into bill over a year ago would keep the players in these residential youth programs in check, ultimately protecting the kids. She also clamored for reauthorization of Title IV-B, and upholding the Bill of Rights for children.
Notably, Paris previously discussed her time in the foster system, going through four different institutions in her childhood, and the resulting trauma. The hotel heiress condemned the treatment as parent-approved kidnapping, supposedly aimed to cure her teenage rebellion. Sadly, these institutions are often masked under noble labels like therapeutic boarding boarding schools, military-style boot camps, and behavior-modification programs.
