As the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, women's rights activists point to progress on a wide array of issues but say more needs to be done to protect girls from child marriage, sexual assault and other forms of exploitation. Here is a selection of pictures showing the daily lives of girls across the globe, all taken by female Associated Press photojournalists. Here: In this December 14, 2015, file photo, a young clown rides in the back of a car following a procession to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Hundreds belonging to various clown associations made their annual pilgrimage to the Basilica to pay their respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Two young women huddle up in their coats as they brave the cold in Newcastle, England on February 1, 2019. Women in skimpy dresses and men in t-shirts enjoyed a drink and a dance as they celebrated January finally being over. (Photo by Will Walker/North News and Pictures)

Lebanese-born American former pоrn star Mia Khalifa “received death threats from ISIS” after wearing hijab in scene. Khalifa, now 25, said the idea to wear the hijab came from the film producers, and she was “just 21 and moderately demure” and didn’t realise she could say no. ISIS shared a manipulated image showing Mia being beheaded. Here: former pornstar Mia Khalifa. (Photo by Instagram @miakhalifa)

Actors perform in a scene during the “Dino Safari” show in Tokyo, Japan, 25 April 2018. The Dino Safari show features dinosaurs moving in a realistic way thanks to the Dino-Tronics mechanism that enable the dinosaurs to walk, move their heads and jaws. The event will run from 26 April to 05 May 2018. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

Gunfire was brought to the steps of President Truman's Washington home, Blair House, as two assassins tried to kill the chief executive, November 1, 1950. One of the gunmen, Oscar Collazzo of New York, lay wounded at the bottom of Blair House's front steps after the president's police guard had finished their work, at the cost of one guards' life, Dec. 9, 1950. The second gunman was killed. (Photo by Harvey Georges/AP Photo)

An Iran fan attends the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Morocco and Iran at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg on June 15, 2018. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

Firefighters use a rope to rescue a group of people stranded in a flooded street on July 12, 2018 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. A strong storm has hit many parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province since Monday, causing landslides and floods in the region. (Photo by Wang Hongqiang/Chengdu Economic Daily/VCG)

Iranian worshippers chant slogans during a protest after their Friday prayer, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad on September 14, 2012. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/Associated Press)