Paris Hilton Advocates on Capitol Hill for Better Protection for Minors
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*Trigger Warning: Content includes sexual assault
The American media personality and fashion icon, Paris Hilton, kicked off her summer on Capitol Hill. Granddaughter to the CEO of Hilton Hotels, yet there’s no amount of money that can protect individuals from domestic violence. Hilton, a socialite and TV personality shared her raw experience with the Congressional Ways and Means Committee about the abuse she faced at the hands of those meant to protect her.
The hearing was titled “Strengthening Child Welfare and Protecting America’s Children,” Hilton shed light on what thousands of people around the world are facing.
Hilton called on Congress to improve foster care systems and youth residential treatment facilities. Sharing the time she was ripped from her bed and transported to four treatment facilities before being force-fed medications and sexually abused.
“I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement,” Hilton said. “My parents were completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry… So can you only imagine the experience for youth who don’t have anyone checking in on them?”
The traumatic experiences faced by then-16-year-old Hilton reflect so many foster youth who are stranded with no family to lean on. Instead of support, too many of these kids are often targeted. Viewed as nothing more than a paycheck and quota. Profiting at the expense of young innocent souls, the foster system industry has accumulated over $23 billion. Without much accountability or oversight, hundreds of thousands fall through the cracks, which is why the relentless advocates and nonprofits calling on government intervention is so crucial.
“I am here to be the voice for children who currently do not have one, while this committee has the responsibility to move bipartisan solutions forward to protect them,” she said.
Hilton has been a long advocate for foster youth long before this year’s hearing, from helping get pivotal bills like Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act introduced to traveling the world to work with victims to even creating her own documentary to share her story with fans. Along with Hilton, former foster youth, lived experience advocates, child welfare experts were present at the hearing and identified areas for reform.
For a year, the Ways and Means Committee has been reviewing Title IV-B of the Social Security Act. This section of the Act focuses on children and family services, specifically outlining the funding streams, training requirements, and accountability/safety protocol. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith, has led the Committee as it looks at ways of reforming the program. As Chairman, he is responsible for selecting and overseeing witnesses, like Hilton, present at these hearings.
Witnesses at the hearing pointed to case worker shortages, kinship care, administrative burden, and barriers faced by Native American tribes as issues for policymakers to focus on. As far as what steps the Committee should take, Hilton asked Congress to reauthorize Title IV-B, improve community-based supports to keep families together, and better supervision of youth residential treatment facilities. Those closest to the problem are often the closest to the solution, by using her story, Hilton has created change nationally and inspired other victims to speak up.
Cherie Animashaun is an author and activist from the Chicagoland area. She is a sophomore at Cornell University studying Public Policy. You can follow her on Instagram @ her.risingg.
Edited by NaTyshca Pickett