Uncovering the problem of forced marriage in the U.S.

GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON:

An attorney for her husband after an initial response to "PBS NewsHour" didn't respond to further inquiries, and her father didn't respond to multiple contact attempts.

Numbers are hard to come by. But one recent study by a group that works against forced marriage found as many 3,000 cases in a two-year period. Legally, marriage is between two adults, age 18 years or older.

But every state in the country allows for exceptions. Critics say these exceptions endanger young people, not help them.

Advocates say children as young as 12 have been married with the consent of their parents, according to state data. Ten states also allow underage girls to be married if they become pregnant. But critics point out that those laws may actually be used to legitimize other crimes, such as rape.

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, Nina Van Harn decided to sue the state of Michigan for an annulment on the grounds that her marriage wasn't consensual, and was, in fact, based on compulsion.

With no legal precedent in the matter, she had to build the case from scratch. She left her husband and moved to a nearby city, where she now lives a much less conservative lifestyle.

The rest of her family ceased all contact. And she and her former spouse share joint custody of their three children. The case, she said, took on a deep personal significance.

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