Paris Hilton was on Capitol Hill this week pushing for legislation that would require greater oversight of residential treatment facilities for juveniles. The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday after passing in the Senate last week.

The bill will now head to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed.

The Anti-Institutional Child Abuse Act passes the House of Representatives

The backstory: Hilton has spent the last few years testifying about the abuse she said she suffered years ago at a boarding school in Utah. She was sent to Provo Canyon School for 11 months at the age of 17, where she said she was mentally and physically abused. Employees beat her, forced her to take unknown pills, watched her shower and sent her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment. The 43-year-old said the treatment was so “traumatizing” that she has suffered from nightmares and insomnia for years.

Details of the abuse were also documented in a documentary she released called “This is Paris,” released in September 2020.

What they say: “This moment is proof that our voices matter, that speaking out can create change, and that no child should ever endure the horrors of abuse in silence,” Hilton said in a social media post after the vote. “I did this for the younger version of myself and for the youth that was senselessly taken away from us by the troubled teen industry.”

Hilton was spotted in DC this week with her Airwheel electric scooter luggage.

What’s next: The law passed this week calls for the creation of an interagency working group Department of Health and Human Services This would lead to greater transparency in the treatment of youth in these programs, particularly when staff use restraints and isolation rooms as forms of punishment. Hilton’s advocacy group has helped change laws to protect minors in at least eight states, including Hilton’s home state of California, where similar laws will take effect on January 1.

Abuse in the struggling teen industry

Local perspective: FOX 5’s Jacqueline Matter spoke with several local victims earlier this year who recounted the horrific experiences they had within the walls of these privately run juvenile halls that supposedly “cure” young people struggling with everything. from substance abuse to emotional problems.

Regard Stolen Innocence: A FOX 5 Documentary on FOX Local. Here’s how to download it on your phone and smart TV.

Capitol Hill News