Paris Hilton says she 'was strangled' and 'slapped' at children's behavioural facility

'Today I come here not as Paris Hilton, but as a survivor'

Paris Hilton has spoken of the alleged abuse she faced during her younger years at a children's behavioural facility as she urged US lawmakers to crack down on the so-called "troubled teen industry".

The entrepreneur, DJ and heiress told a press conference at Capitol Hill she was "strangled" and "forced to take medication" as a 17-year-old at Provo Canyon School - a "congregate care" facility for teenagers.

Ms Hilton, now 40-years-old, first told of her experience at the school in the This Is Paris documentary released on YouTube last year.

Having spent months campaigning for reform on the issue, Ms Hilton shared her own experiences of the brutal conditions she says she endured.

Listen to the ITV News arts and entertainment podcast, Unscripted

"I was strangled, slapped across the face, watched in the shower by male staff," the celebrity said.

She added she was "called vulgar names, forced to take medication without a diagnosis, not given a proper education, thrown into solitary confinement in a room, covered and scratched smirks and smeared in blood and so much more."

She also claimed she was "two large men" forcibly took her from her bedroom to the facility during the night.

"I screamed for my parents, and as I was being physically dragged out of my house, I saw them crying in the hallway," she said.

"They didn't come to my rescue that night," Hilton added.

Why has Paris Hilton shared her experience?

Her testimony comes as Representative Ro Khanna of California drafts a Bill of Rights for children in congregate care.

It would give youngsters in youth facilities the right to call their parents, be free from restraints, and have access to clean drinking water and nutritional meals.

"Ensuring children are safe from institutional abuse isn't a Republican or Democratic issue," Ms Hilton said.

"It's a basic human rights issue that requires immediate attention on behalf of hundreds of thousands of institutional abuse survivors across America." Also at the press conference was 12-year-old, Uvea Spezza-Lopin, who spoke about being abused at a facility in Montana. "I'm here to put my dream in motion. I want to prevent further harm from happening to anyone else at these facilities."