Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station experiences months of darkness. The sun dips below the horizon on March 21, after which follows several weeks of twilight before complete darkness results. Photo taken on June 25, 2009. (National Science Foundation/Jeremy Johnson)

Youths kick a gay rights activist during a protest against a proposed new law termed by the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, as “against advocating the rejection of traditional family values” in central Moscow June 11, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A boy with his bike is seen as rainbow appears after a rainfall in Edremit district of Van province in Turkey on July 08, 2020. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

McKensi Pascall is painted by artist Tom Sebazco at Human Connection Arts 8th Annual NYC Body Painting Day in Union Square Park on Sunday, July 25, 2021 in New York. (Photo by Brittainy Newman/AP Photo)

The Mayon volcano continues to erupt as the sun sets behind Legazpi city, Thursday, January 25, 2018 in Albay province, roughly 340 kilometers, (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP 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 zookeeper wearing orangutan costume tries to escape while zookeepers hold up a net in an attempt to capture it during an Escaped Animal Drill at Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo, Japan on February 22, 2019. The annual escape drill is held to train zookeepers what to do in the event of an animal escape. This year a member of staff wearing an orangutan costume was captured and subdued with large nets, sticks and tranquilizer guns to make sure the orangutan did not get away. (Photo by Rodrigo Reyes Marin/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News)

Children jump into the water despite strong waves after a strong downpour at Manila's bay, Philippines, Wednesday, July 17, 2019. Schools in metropolitan Manila have been suspended as Tropical Storm Danas, locally named Falcon, continue to enhance the southwest monsoon as it maintains its strength bringing heavy rains over parts of Luzon and Visayas according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)