Paris Hilton says she was 'strangled, slapped across the face,' and 'watched in the shower by male staff' in 'troubled teen' facilities

• Paris Hilton said she was "strangled, slapped across the face" at "troubled teen" facilities.
• She spoke in favor of a bill that aims to give children at similar facilities more protection.

Paris Hilton said she was physically abused and "watched in the shower by male staff" at "troubled teen" facilities.

Hilton testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, sharing her experiences in support of a proposed bill hoping to improve conditions at youth facilities meant to discipline teens and children.

NBC News reports that the bill (introduced by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, and supported by Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Adam Schiff, and Sen. Jeff Merkley) aims at ensuring that the kids at these facilities are able to call their parents, get clean water and nutritional meals, and are able to resist being physically restrained.

Currently, there are no measures in place that stipulate these protections.

Hilton made a passionate case for the proposed bill, titled Accountability for Congregate Care Act, arguing that "federal law and funding are desperately needed to bring real reform and true accountability."

Speaking about her own time at these teen facilities, Hilton said that her parents, Kathy and Rick Hilton, were "promised that tough love would fix" the then-teenaged socialite, and she was sent to four different facilities between the ages of 16 and 18.

"I was strangled, slapped across the face, watched in the shower by male staff, called vulgar names," Hilton said. "Forced to take medication without a diagnosis, not given a proper education, thrown into solitary confinement in a room covered in scratch marks and smeared in blood, and so much more."

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Hilton also said on Wednesday that she has suffered from "over 20 years of trauma" and "severe PTSD" as a result of her mistreatment at these facilities.

She blamed a "systemwide lack of transparency and accountability" because of which "the multibillion-dollar troubled teen industry has been able to mislead parents, school districts, child welfare agencies, and juvenile justice systems."

Ahead of the press conference, Hilton posted an Instagram story showing that her mother Kathy had accompanied her on the trip to Washington, DC.

Hilton first opened up about the abuse she faced in an interview with The Times in August 2020. She told the publication that she was beaten, strangled, forced to take pills, called a "spoiled brat."

"It was just terrifying to be in a place every day where people who work there were sadistic and wanted to torture and hurt children," Hilton said. "I don't wish that on anyone."