An employee stands on the step of The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Istanbul Station in Istanbul, on August 31, 2022. The Venice Simplon Orient-Express luxury train arrives in Istanbul, completing its annual voyage along a mythical route that takes it across Europe from Paris. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/AFP Photo)

Models Mei Jiang and Camille Razat pose backstage prior to the “Le Defile Walk Your Worth” By L'Oreal Paris Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 02, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images for L'Oréal Paris)

Colombia's Tatiana Renteria Renteria (red) wrestles Japan's Yuka Kagami (blue) in their women's freestyle 76kg wrestling semi-final match at the Champ-de-Mars Arena during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on August 10, 2024. (Photo by Punit Paranjpe/AFP Photo)

A Hindu devotee performs a stunt with fire during a rehearsal for the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession, which commemorates a journey by Hindu god Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, in specially made chariots, in Ahmedabad, India, June 26, 2016. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Hotel ushers pose for a photo at Tiananmen Square as delegates attend the second plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, March 9, 2018. The CPPCC is the top advisory body of the Chinese political system and runs alongside the annual plenary meetings of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), together known as “Lianghui” or “Two Meetings”. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

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)

A woman holds a picture as people pray during a funeral, following a mass shooting at a day care centre, at Wat Rat Samakee, in the town of Uthai Sawan, in the province of Nong Bua Lam Phu, Thailand on October 9, 2022. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Cholita wrestlers stage a performance on the street during the Electropreste celebration, which combines traditional and modern customs, in La Paz, Bolivia on March 12, 2022. (Photo by Claudia Morales/Reuters)