Paris Hilton testified about force-feeding and stripping naked in juvenile facilities to the US Congress

Heiress and media personality Paris Hilton has given a statement to the US Congress about the violent treatment experienced by young people in private residential facilities. The issue is reported, among other things, by a British newspaper The Guardian.

Hilton made the statement to a panel preparing to take action to strengthen federal child welfare laws. He told the Congress on Wednesday that he was a victim of sexual violence and other repeated ill-treatment by the staff of institutions as a teenager.

Hilton told about being force-fed medication, being dragged through the corridors, violently restrained, stripped naked and isolated.

Hilton has been vocal in her criticism of various US facilities for troubled youth, calling the industry “parental-sanctioned kidnapping.” According to Hilton, the $50 billion industry consists of a mix of “therapeutic boarding schools, militant intensives and behavior modification programs.”

According to Hilton, it is almost impossible for the young people to tell their parents about their experiences, because the phones are tapped and the employees claim that what the young people say is just an attempt to get home.

Paris Hilton has told about his traumatic experiences, especially in Utah’s Provo Canyon educational institution, in his life story in a documentary film This is Paris. In the documentary, Hilton talks about constant mental and physical violence. Together with others who experienced the same thing, Hilton launched an online campaign demanding justice for the victims of the educational institution.

Hilton has also called on lawmakers to pass a bill that would crack down on institutional child abuse (Stop Institutional Child Abuse act) and a proposal for a law under which the states could provide more support to families struggling with their children (Title IV-B of the social security act).

The Provo Canyon educational institution has refused to comment on the matter, citing a change in the management of the educational institution.

Correction 27.6. 4:36 p.m.: Hilton gave her statement to the federal action preparation panel, not the state as previously reported in the story.