This cultural phenomenon is not limited to Arabic culture:

Western Resitance, Pakistan: Muslim Child Bride, Aged 9, Seeks Divorce

Yesterday,
a nine year old girl who had been forced into a marriage appeared in a
family court in Dera Ghazi Khan, in Punjab Province, Pakistan. She
filed a petition demanding that her husband and his father be tried
under Islamic Law.

The girl, Nusrat, had ben married off as part of a compensation
package, known as vani. The family of domestic patriarch Allah Diwaya
had been angered by the behaviour of Nusrat's brother, Abdul Shafoor.
Her brother's crime was to have had an affair with a female member of
Allah Diwaya's...

read more»

This cultural phenomenon is not limited to Arabic culture:

Western Resitance, Pakistan: Muslim Child Bride, Aged 9, Seeks Divorce

Yesterday,
a nine year old girl who had been forced into a marriage appeared in a
family court in Dera Ghazi Khan, in Punjab Province, Pakistan. She
filed a petition demanding that her husband and his father be tried
under Islamic Law.

The girl, Nusrat, had ben married off as part of a compensation
package, known as vani. The family of domestic patriarch Allah Diwaya
had been angered by the behaviour of Nusrat's brother, Abdul Shafoor.
Her brother's crime was to have had an affair with a female member of
Allah Diwaya's family.

Allah Diwaya called a panchayat or "Muslim village council", to
settle the issue of the "crime" of Nusrat's brother. The panchayat
commanded Nusrut's father to give her away to a son of Allah Diwaya,
called Shaukat Hussain, in vani marriage.

Shaukat Hussain then proceeded to sexually abuse her for a month,
Nusrat's petition statement claimed. She states that she was forced to
undergo a marriage ceremony with Shaukat Hussain, and claims that he
later produced marriage documents. These claimed she had been 18 at the
time of the wedding. Her "husband" had obtained these documents as the
result of a bribe. The imam who conducted their matrimonial rites was
named as Maulvi Manzoor Hussain.