On Monday, she masters reality and the heiress of reality Paris Hilton she testified in a court in Salt Lake City about the alleged abuse she witnessed and experienced it from a teenage girl at a Utah boarding school for “troubled teens.”
The Associated Press reports that Hilton testified in support of a bill that would require stronger government oversight of residential care centers for youth and ask them to document the use of restrictions on residents. Ffollowing emotional testimonies of Hilton and three other survivors, the passed the measuregloomily.
“I am speaking today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care facilities in the United States, ”Hilton said before Utah Senate Committee Hearing “For the past 20 years, I have had a recurring nightmare in which I am abducted in the middle of the night by two strangers, searched in bands and locked in a unit. I wish I could tell you that this haunting nightmare was just a dream, but it’s not. “
Hilton, now 39 years old, attended Provo Canyon school for 11 months at the age of 17. The school boasts of its compassionate and professional approach to young people with emotional and behavioral problems, but Hilton says she was “verbally, mentally and physically abused daily” at the facility. ”
“Without a diagnosis, I was forced to take drugs that made me feel numb and exhausted. I didn’t breathe fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months, “Hilton said. “There was zero privacy – every time I used the bathroom or took a shower – it was monitored. At the age of 16 – as a child – I felt their penetrating eyes looking at my naked body. I was just a child and I felt violated every day. ”
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Hilton went public for the first time with his allegations against Provo Canyon in documentary movie This is Paris, launched in September 2020. Additional survivors of Provo Canyon shared their own awful stories of abuse following the documentary, including the tattoo artist Kat Von D; in on Instagram video clip, Kat described her internship at Provo Canyon as “the most traumatic six months of my life. ”
In the accompanying legend, Kat Von D wrote that she appeared with “Major PTSD and other traumas due to the unregulated, unethical and abusive protocols of this “school” – and I can’t believe this place is still OFFICIAL. ”
Ssince its founding 50 years ago, Provo Canyon was the subject several processes, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. The school distanced itself from the accusations of abuse following a flood of media attention that they received following the documentary in Paris. As of October 2020, the following message has been posted on the front page of the school’s website: “Please note that PCS was sold through its previous ownership in August 2000. Therefore, we cannot comment on the patient’s operations or experience before that moment. We are committed to providing high quality care to young people with special needs, often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric. ”
There is also a link to a number of recent press releases. “While we acknowledge that there are individuals over the years who believe they have not been helped by the program, we are encouraged by the many stories former residents share about how their stay has been a key point in improving – and in many cases, saving them. he lives ”, it is shown in one. But Provo Canyon’s suggestion that a new property has ended a cycle of abuse is no longer valid, considering that the allegations have continued under the current leadership.
Din Salt Lake Tribune:
Six women who went there between 2003 and 2017 told The Tribune similar stories about being over-medicated, detained and punished for minor crimes while on the girls’ campuses in Springville and Orem.
Kayla Smith was 8 years old when her parents, in coordination with her California school district, sent her to Utah in 2010.
He is now 19 years old, but he still feels a tension in his chest while talking about the time spent there.
Smith remembered being searched and touched by staff, an experience that was foggy because she had been medicated before she came. She missed home the first night, and staff put her in a solitary confinement room and locked her inside – which is against Utah regulations, which say “expiration rooms” cannot be blocked.
Only this bill will not put an end to the cruelty that former participants say is ripe in the culture of several Provo Canyon campuses, but anything that can make overzealous staff hesitate before the body slams a child and injecting sedatives can’t hurt. As Hilton said reporters, “This bill will definitely help many children, but obviously there is still a lot of work to be done and I will not stop until it changes ”.