A view of a bridge, which is usually submerged, over the dried bed of Llwyn-on Reservoir during a heatwave in Wales, Britain on July 18, 2022. (Photo by Carl Recine/Reuters)

A two-week-old hoglet finds an unusual spot to sit at the Happy Hedgehogs rescue centre in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire in the second decade of September 2023. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)

Young girls practice acrobatic skills in the Sichuan Provincial Art School July 14, 2008 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

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)

Indian girls in traditional attire pose for photographs as they practice the Garba, the traditional dance of Gujarat state, ahead of Navratri festival in Ahmadabad, India, Saturday, October 3, 2015. Navratri or nine night festival will begin on October 13. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)

Participants of the Sarenza High Heel Race 2015 warm up prior to the race during a party of the online shoe store, in Paris, Thursday, October 15, 2015. Competitors in teams of three girls race wearing shoes with more than 8 cm-high heels. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)

A girl with her face painted to look like the popular Mexican figure called "Catrina", jumps as she takes part in the annual Catrina Fest in Mexico City November 1, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)