WASHINGTON (AP) — Media personality Paris Hilton made an emotional appeal Monday to the U.S. House of Representatives, urging lawmakers to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act before their holiday recess, following the bill’s unanimous Senate approval last week.
The legislation, championed by Hilton since 2021, aims to reform youth residential treatment facilities. Her advocacy stems from personal trauma she allegedly experienced at Utah’s Provo Canyon School as a teenager.
“I was physically restrained, sexually abused, isolated, overmedicated, and stripped of my dignity,” Hilton wrote in an open letter posted on Instagram. “I was told I didn’t matter, that I was the problem, and no one would believe me if I spoke up — not even my family.”
Since October 2021, Hilton has regularly traveled to Washington to advocate for reform. The Senate’s passage of the bill on December 11 marked what she called “one of the best moments of my life.”
The 42-year-old heiress first revealed her experiences to PEOPLE magazine in 2020, describing her 11-month stay at the school as “continuous torture.” She alleged staff members used physical abuse and intimidation to control students. The school, when contacted in 2021, declined to comment on operations before its change in ownership in August 2000.
“Speaking up has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also been the most powerful,” Hilton stated. “I always believed in turning pain into purpose, in creating something good from something dark.”
Describing her advocacy as both challenging and rewarding, Hilton has vowed to continue her campaign. “This is my lifelong mission and I really believe it’s my true purpose in life,” she told ABC News.
The House must now vote on the legislation before it can become law. In her appeal, Hilton urged representatives to “think of the children who can’t speak for themselves.”
