A pig's head is seen in a basin after it was slaughtered it in the village of Azerany, Belarus, December 12, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

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)

This aerial picture taken on the night of November 12, 2018 shows traffic on an elevated intersection in downtown Shanghai, China. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

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

As part of FLAIR Melbourne – a Flinders Lane art festival – Melbourne’s Lisa Minogue presents stylised photographic portraits of Australian women of colour, their faces painted vibrantly to accentuate their individuality and encourage the viewer to study each face more closely. Minogue asked each woman the same question: “What do the words “coloured girl” mean to you?”. (Photo by Lisa Minogue/The Guardian)