Former child bride in Texas aims to change marriage laws, says 'Child marriages hurt children'

Trevicia Williams at the age of 16 with her daughter, Agnes, in Houston, Texas. At 14 years old, Williams' mother took her to the courthouse to get married to a 26-year-old man she had just met. Trevicia Williams at the age of 16 with her daughter, Agnes, in Houston, Texas. At 14 years old, Williams' mother took her to the courthouse to get married to a 26-year-old man she had just met. Photo: Trevicia Williams Photo: Trevicia Williams Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Former child bride in Texas aims to change marriage laws, says 'Child marriages hurt children' 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

In October 1983, Trevicia Williams was married at the age of 14 to a 26-year-old ex-convict and a current registered sex offender, whom she only met a few months before their wedding.

She didn't become a child bride in a far-off land, but instead here in Houston.

"You're only a child once in your life - only 14 years old, 15, 16 - once. To rob a child of those years - you know - from developing themselves and their character," Williams told Chron.com. "They're missing all of those important experiences."

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Williams is working with the Tahirih Justice Center, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, and Sen. Van Taylor, R-Collin, to bring awareness and legislation changes to the modern realities of child marriages in Texas. According to statistics from the Texas Department of Health Services provided by the Tahirih Justice Center, nearly 40,000 children between the age of 12 and 17 were married from 2000 to 2014 in Texas.

As the law stands, a child as young as 16 can be legally married by the state with the consent of a single parent. Children younger than 16 can also be married with a judge's consent, according to Jeanne Smoot of the Tahirih Justice Center.

"There is no age floor as long as a judge signs off on it," Smoot told Chron.com.

Williams, the Tahirih Justice Center, Rep. Thompson and Sen. Taylor aim to change that law with House Bill 3932 and Senate Bill 1705.

"Through a signature of a single parent, a child is emancipated and married in a single process," the senator said during a Texas Senate committee hearing on Wednesday. "So I believe a child should be emancipated first, in order to choose whether they want to be married."

The bill, which is currently under review in the Texas Senate and House, would require parties to be at least 18 years old or court emancipated before they could get married.

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Williams' story was among the striking testimonies given during a hearing Wednesday. Through written testimony, Williams described how her mother picked her up from Aldine Senior High School on October 19, 1983, to take her to the courthouse to wed a man 12 years her senior.

Photo: Trevicia Williams Trevicia Williams with her daughter, Agnes, in Houston, Texas. At...

The couple was married from 1983 to 1987 and Williams describes the marriage as "tumultuous" and "violent." Nearly two years after her wedding day, Williams gave birth to her daughter, Agnes, two months before her 16th birthday in 1985. In August of 1987, at the age of 17, Williams divorced her husband.

"A lot of people ask me why and I don't have a concrete answer as to why my mother married me to him," Williams said. Currently, Williams and her mother do not speak to each other. "I can say I forgive her, but even with forgiveness, it doesn't mean to subject yourself to continuous hurt."

Despite her rough teenage years, Williams has turned toward her faith and education to propel her future. Williams earned a Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, a Master's degree in Behavioral Sciences and Psychology and a doctorate in Psychology.

"Most people become victims, but I was never satisfied being where I was because I knew where I was supposed to be," Williams told Chron.com. "I always reached for something higher."

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Along with her work pushing the senate and house bills through this legislation session, Williams founded Real Beauty Inside Out, which helps mothers and their daughters grow healthy relationships with each other. A part of her goal is to build the relationship level of families in order to prevent child marriages.

"It shouldn't hurt to be a child and child marriages, hurt children," Williams told Chron.com. "They aren't aware of it at the time, but they will be." For more information about Williams' work, visit her website here.