Paris Hilton's battle against boarding schools

In June 2024, socialite and businesswoman Paris Hilton testified before the US Congress about the abuse she suffered during her adolescence in youth centers.

As reported by The Guardian, Hilton stated that she was "force-fed medications and se*ually abused by the staff facility."

"When I was 16 years old, 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," Paris Hilton told the Congressional Committee on Child Welfare.

The intervention was made to 're-educate' the wealthy teen. As she recalls, "These programs promised healing, growth, and support, but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely, or even look out a window for two years."

Hilton described her experience as a "a parent-approved kidnapping," adding that her family had been fooled by the industry's advertising of troubled teens.

The socialite described a "tough love" business of course-correcting teenagers a $50 billion industry that includes therapeutic boarding schools, boot camps, juvenile justice centers, and behavior modification programs, according to The Guardian.

Hilton claimed she "was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped n4ked and thrown into solitary confinement" on several occasions.

Hilton has said the experience was "isolating and traumatic" as she was prevented from calling her parents to alert them to what was happening at the boarding school.

"It's really difficult to tell anyone in the outside world. A lot of these kids are not believed because these places tell the parents they're being lied to and manipulated because they want to go home," Hilton told the committee. She also explained that the calls were monitored by members of the boarding school.

Hilton asked lawmakers to pass legislation to strengthen oversight of residential youth programs and advocated for a 'Bill of Rights' for children placed in juvenile facilities.

Hilton first spoke about her experiences in the corrective boarding school in her YouTube documentary 'This is Paris' in 2020.

In the documentary, the star accused members of the school staff of abusing her. Shortly afterward, she led a protest calling for the closure of Provo Canyon School, the Utah boarding school he attended.

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