“I was strangled, slapped across the face, watched in the shower by male staff...”
At 16, Paris Hilton was sent to a facility for “troubled teens.” Here’s why she is fighting to change the laws surrounding the care of teenagers in the U.S...
At 16, Paris Hilton was sent to a facility for “troubled teens.” Here’s why she is fighting to change the laws surrounding the care of teenagers in the U.S...
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00:00I was strangled, slapped across the face, watched in the shower by male staff, called vulgar names,
00:08forced to take medication without a diagnosis, not given a proper education,
00:15thrown into solitary confinement in a room covered in scratch marks and smeared in blood, and so much more.
00:30At Provo Canyon School in Utah, I was given clothes with a number on the tag.
00:47I was no longer me. I was only number 127.
00:52I was forced to stay indoors for 11 months straight. No sunlight, no fresh air.
00:59These were considered privileges. Children were regular hit, thrown into walls, and even sexually abused at Provo.
01:08For 20 years, I couldn't sleep at night as memories of physical violence, the feeling of loneliness,
01:15the loss of peers rushed through my mind when I shut my eyes.
01:20This was not just insomnia. It was trauma.
01:30I wish I could tell you that what I experienced to witness was unique or even rare, but sadly it's not.
01:38Every day in America, children in congregate care settings are being physically, emotionally, and sexually abused.
01:46Children are even dying at the hands of those responsible for their care.
01:50The Accountability for Congregate Care Act will formally be introduced in both houses of Congress.
01:57This bill creates an urgently needed bill of rights to ensure that every child placed into congregate care facilities is provided a safe and humane environment.
02:07This bill of rights provides protections that I wasn't afforded, like access to education, to the outdoors, freedom from abusive treatment, and even the basic right to speak and move freely.