Paris Hilton Says She Will ‘Not Stop Until America’s Youth Is Safe’ At House Committee Hearing On Child Welfare

Paris Hilton is speaking up about her previous trauma as she continues to campaign for legislation that protects children from institutional abuse.

During a House committee hearing on Wednesday, the actor, singer, DJ, and model stated that she will “be the voice for the children whose voices can’t be heard” and will “not stop until America’s youth is safe” as she urged congressional action to defend child welfare.

Hilton | People Image

Paris Hilton Says She Will ‘Not Stop Until America’s Youth Is Safe’

Hilton told the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing on foster care and the reauthorization of Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, which provides states with resources to promote child welfare, that “families need resources and support so they don’t have to come into the child welfare system in the first place.”

Hilton has been an ardent campaigner for child welfare concerns, revealing in her 2020 documentary “This is Paris” and 2023 biography “Paris: The Memoir” that she was subjected to physical and emotional abuse in a boarding school for problematic children. She has stated that she still suffers from PTSD after her time in the hospital.

Hilton | Yahoo Image

Paris Hilton Says She Will ‘Not Stop Until America’s Youth Is Safe’

On Wednesday, she testified about her experience, telling the committee that at the age of 16, “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.”

“I was forced to take drugs and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained, carried along halls, stripped naked, and placed in solitary confinement. “My parents were completely duped – lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was receiving,” she stated. “So can you only imagine the experience for youth who are placed by the state and don’t have people regularly checking in on them?”

“As a mom, these stories break my heart,” Hilton, who is now a mother of two, said at the hearing.

Paris Hilton Says She Will ‘Not Stop Until America’s Youth Is Safe’

Hilton has previously visited Washington, DC to fight for child safety, including a 2022 visit during which, according to a White House official, she met with White House policy officials and other survivors to address “issues pertinent to the protection of institutionalized youth in America.”

“What I experienced in these places, I will never forget,” Hilton told CNN’s Brianna Keiler in a 2022 interview. “It has affected me and will affect me for the rest of my life and that’s why I am fighting for change so no child ever has to suffer in the name of treatment.”

SOURCE – (CNN)