Jenifer Lopez, 12, watches television at her home in Havana January 9, 2015. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Woman carrying luggage walks along a railway track on the outskirts of Mumbai, India on November 12, 2020. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo wishes her famous bestie, actor Iris Apatow, a happy birthday on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Instagram)

American dancer Julianne Hough is seen on September 12, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Members of the public enjoy a tea dance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom on April 12, 2022. (Photo by Sarah Lee/The Guardian)

An Afghan burqa-clad woman with children ride a donkey in Kishim district of Badakhshan province on October 12, 2023. (Photo by Omer Abrar/AFP Photo)

A laborer is transporting used oil durms by a hand-pulled vehicle near Buriganga River in Dhaka on June 12, 2021. (Photo by Md Rakibul Hasan/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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)