Alexis kneels with his baby at a protest in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in Dakar, Senegal on June 9, 2020. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP Photo)

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 is helped as she reacts on the floor amid anti-government protests after Peru's former President Pedro Castillo was ousted, in Lima, Peru on January 23, 2023. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

Revellers light firecrackers during Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights, in New Delhi on November 12, 2023. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

Actress Elke Sommer sunbathing on the beach of Cannes during the Cannes film festival, 1961. (Photo by Daniel Fallot/INA via Getty Images)

Billie Catherine Lourd and Keke Palmer must have loved their account balances so much, they posed in front of an ATM in Los Angeles on August 8, 2016. (Photo by Jen Lowery/Splash News)

American rapper Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus, known professionally as Cardi B in the second decade of April 2023 tells fans she smells like “coconuts and pineapple” while showing off a wild outfit. (Photo by iamcardib/Instagram)

American singer-songwriter Chlöe Bailey in the second decade of July 2023 enjoys her first Carnival in a barely there costume. (Photo by chloebailey/Instagram)