Paris Hilton opens up about past trauma in emotional letter advocating for child abuse bill
Paris Hilton has opened up about her past trauma in an emotional open letter shared to her 26.6 million followers.
The star has become a major advocate for victims of child abuse over the years after allegedly being abused herself as a teen while at a boarding school in Provo, Utah.
Her latest effort is to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Bill to protect victims.
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Hilton shared a copy of her open letter to the United States House of Representatives members on Instagram, dated December 16, urging them to pass the bill this week.
“For most of my life, I carried a deep, unspoken pain,” she began the heartfelt letter.
“I thought if I stayed quiet, if I buried it far enough, maybe I could convince myself it didn’t happen,” The Simple Life star continued.
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“But silence doesn’t heal – it only protects the people that caused the harm. Speaking up has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also been the most powerful,” she wrote.
Hilton then opened up about her own past trauma as a teen, claiming she was told: “I didn’t matter, that I was the problem, and that no one would believe me if I spoke up – not even my family”.
The star said she began to heal from the trauma after finding her voice.
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Hilton remarked her work as an advocate had been “one of the most challenging and rewarding journeys”.
The mother-of-two opened up about meeting survivors and how it reminded her “every day why this fight matters” for the children still in those systems.
“For me, it’s impossible to see these children as statistics. I see that kid. I know that kid. I am that kid,” Hilton wrote.
She urged the members to “think about the children who can’t speak for themselves”.
In a follow-up Instagram Story, Hilton shared a video of herself and her one-year-old son Phoenix on their way to Washington D.C, about to board a plane.
“Showing my son what it means to be a Hero and do what’s right,” she wrote.
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Hilton’s emotional open letter comes after the US Senate passed the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act last week, which she lobbied for over three years.
In June, the DJ testified about her experience at a House committee hearing while advocating to protect child welfare.
In her testimony, the star claimed she was taken from her home in the middle of the night at 16 years old and transported to a troubled teen facility.
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Hilton alleged she was “force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff”.
She opened up about her alleged abuse in the 2023 autobiography Paris: The Memoir.
Hilton has also been the spotlight recently for her new reality series, Paris & Nicole: The Encore with close friend Nicole Richie.
If you, or anyone you know is struggling, please contact: Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; Domestic Violence Line 1800 65 64 63; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732
