Paris Hilton has testified that she was allegedly "verbally, mentally and physically abused on a daily basis" at a boarding school.
Paris Hilton
The 39-year-old socialite appeared in court on Monday (08.02.21) to support a bill which focuses on ending abuse in Utah care facilities, and claimed she "didn't breathe fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months" at Provo Canyon School and was "forced" to take medication which left her "numb and exhausted".
Speaking in her testimony to the Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee, she said: "My name is Paris Hilton, I am an institutional abuse survivor and I speak today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care facilities across the United States.
"For the past 20 years, I have had a recurring nightmare where I'm kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip-searched, and locked in a facility.
"I wish I could tell you that this haunting nightmare was just a dream, but it is not.
"I was verbally, mentally and physically abused on a daily basis. I was cut off from the outside world and stripped of all my human rights.
"Without a diagnosis, I was forced to consume medication that made me feel numb and exhausted. I didn't breathe fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months.
"There was zero privacy - every time I would use the bathroom or take a shower - it was monitored.
"At 16 years old - as a child - I felt their piercing eyes staring at my naked body. I was just a kid and felt violated every single day."
Paris - who spent 11 months at the school after being sent there by her parents - insisted she is "proof that money doesn't protect against abuse".
She added: "I tell my story not so that anyone feels bad for me, but to shine a light on the reality of what happened then and is still happening now.
"The people who work at, run, and fund these programs should be ashamed of themselves. How can people live with themselves knowing this abuse is happening?"
"I'm going to be honest. Talking about something so personal was and is still terrifying.
"And I cannot go to sleep at night knowing that there are children that are enduring the same abuse that I and so many others went through. Neither should you.
"I am proof that money doesn't protect against abuse."
Paris initially made allegations against the school in her YouTube Originals documentary 'This Is Paris'.
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