Paris Hilton has urged US politicians to adopt a "bill of rights" for children in care

She said: "The multi-billion troubled teen industry has been able to mislead parents, school districts, child welfare agencies, and juvenile justice systems for decades.

"The reason is a system-wide lack of transparency and accountability."

Paris is campaigning for change after previously revealing that she was abused in youth facilities during her teens.

The TV star attended a number of care facilities over a two-year span, and suffered various forms of abuse, including being choked, slapped and deprived of sleep.

Speaking to reporters, Paris explained: "For 20 years, I couldn't sleep at night, as memories of physical violence, feelings of loneliness, the loss of peers rushed through my mind when I shut my eyes.

"This was not just insomnia - it was trauma.

"One night when I was 16 years old, I woke up to two large men in my bedroom asking if I wanted to go the easy way or the hard way.

"Thinking I was being kidnapped, I screamed for my parents. As I was being physically dragged out of my house, I saw them crying in the hallway. They didn't come to my rescue that night.

"This was my introduction to the troubled teen industry.

"My parents were promised that tough love would fix me and that sending me across the country was the only way."

Paris thinks a bill of rights is needed to ensure that every child in the system feels "safe".

She explained: "Every day in America, children in congregate care settings are being physically, emotionally, and sexually abused.

Children are even dying at the hands of those responsible for their care.

"This bill creates an urgently-needed bill of rights to ensure that every child placed in congregate facilities is provided a safe and humane environment.

"This bill 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."