Paris Hilton’s solitary confinement booth on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, USA - 11 May 2022.Photo: Shutterstock
Paris Hiltonwas back in Washington, D.C. this week, paying a visit to the White House as part of her continued advocacy against child abuse.
“So honored to be back in DC to continue my advocacy work,” the 41-year-old socialite wrote on Twitter. “I had such an inspiring time meeting with policy staff & walking the halls of the West Wing with advocates. I am so glad to see that the most powerful office in the world is dedicated to fighting for the rights of all.”
A White House official told CNN that Hilton joined policy staff, fellow survivors and other state and national advocates “as part of her advocacy efforts to improve protections of youth in residential programs and facilities.”
While in the capital, the heiress met with lawmakers including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who shared a photo of the two talking in his office.
“Met with @ParisHilton this week to talk about how we can better serve America’s youth,” the Republican captioned the photo, which he shared on his official Twitter account.
The reality television star has spent recent years urging for schools such as Provo Canyon— the Utah boarding school whose staff members she has accused of inflicting emotional, physical and psychological abuse on her during her stay as a teenager — to be monitored more closely.
In 2021, Hilton testified against Provo Canyon School, where she was sent for 11 months in an attempt to tame her rebellious partying as a teenager. During her testimony in a Utah court room, Hilton said she had been “verbally, mentally and physically abused on a daily basis. I was cut off from the outside world and stripped of all my human rights.”
Paris Hilton’s solitary confinement booth on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, USA - 11 May 2022.Shutterstock
Hilton said she believes the alleged abuse at the school continued for years after she left, saying changes only started to be made after she publicly spoke out in theYouTube Originals documentaryThis Is Paristhat premiered in 2020. The school is now under different ownership.
“I buried my truth for so long,” Hilton toldPEOPLEexclusively in August 2020 of why she came forward 20 years after her stay at the institution. “But I’m proud of the strong woman I’ve become. People might assume everything in my life came easy to me, but I want to show the world who I truly am.”
In a firsthand account published inUSA TodayWednesday, Hilton further detailed the abuse and explained her trip to D.C., writing, “Institutional abuse survivors are on Capitol Hill this week to continue educating lawmakers about how badly children placed in the troubled teen industry are treated. We will continue to make our voices heard to rally national support in this important election year to urge Congress to finally stop institutional child abuse.”
source: people.com
