Paris Hilton burst into tears this week when she testified to a panel of politicians in Utah about the fact that she was chronically abused at a boarding school there.
‘My name is Paris Hilton. I am a survivor of institutional abuse, ‘the 39-year-old said socially during a hearing in the Senate Committee during the Utah Capitol.
Hilton, 39, wiped away the tears when she testified at the Provo Canyon School in the Beehive State at the age of 17 about her alleged abuse, which she called ‘hell herself on earth’.
“I have been verbally, mentally and physically abused daily,” Hilton said of her time when she was “no longer Paris” but just a number.
“I have been cut off from the outside world and deprived of all my human rights,” she said, accusing staff of being ‘evil and sadistic’.
“I cried myself to sleep every night and prayed that I would wake up from this nightmare,” she said during the trial.
Hilton – who discussed the abuse earlier in a documentary “This is Paris” – said her 11 months at the so-called Compassionate Center caused ongoing trauma.
“I have had a recurring nightmare for the past twenty years where I was abducted in the middle of the night by two strangers, examined and locked in a room,” she testified.
“I wish I could tell you that this ghostly nightmare was just a dream, but it is not,” she said, saying she was afraid they would “never go away.”
She said she was ‘forced to use medication that made me feel numb and exhausted’ and ‘did not inhale fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months.’
“There was no privacy – every time I used the bathroom or took a shower, it was monitored,” she testified.
‘At the age of 16 – as a child – I felt their piercing eyes stare at my naked body. I was just a child and felt violated every day, ‘she said, calling it’ unconstitutional, destructive and frightening ‘.
She claims that a longtime employee – who was employed until her documentary aired – would brag to recent students that “she was the one who broke Paris Hilton.”
Hilton said during the trial that “talking about so personally was scary and still scary”, but she wanted to bring about change to prevent others from being abused in the same way.
Hilton’s evidence was to support a bill to require more government oversight of youth treatment centers and to document when they use restrictions.
The measure was unanimously adopted following emotional testimony from Hilton and several other survivors.
Hilton has called on President Biden and congressional leaders to take action, saying she intends to pursue federal legislation.
“This is just the first step,” Hilton told reporters. “This bill will definitely help a lot of kids, but there is obviously more work to be done, and I’m not going to stop until change takes place.”
In a statement on its website, Provo Canyon School says the previous owners sold the school in 2000.
Co-administrator Tim Marshall told KUTV that the school supported the bill and “eliminated the use of seclusion or isolation some time ago.” He also insisted that staff “do not use medication to be sedative, immobilize a patient or restrict them in their ability to continue to be actively involved in their care.”
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