A girl collects water lily flowers at a pond in Kampong Speu province Cambodia, March 24, 2017. Picture taken March 24, 2017. (Photo by Samrang Pring/Reuters)

An EF-2 tornado begins to rope out on the outskirts of Mangum, Oklahoma, U.S. on May 20, 2019. Multiple tornadoes touched down and heavy rain flooded areas across Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Conner/ZUMA Wire)

Anthony Joshua, right, knocks down Andy Ruiz during the third round of a heavyweight championship boxing match Saturday, June 1, 2019, in New York. Ruiz won in the seventh round. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

A boatman rests on his boat in the flooded Ganges river under the Shastri bridge at Daraganj Ghat, in Allahabad, India on August 22, 2019. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/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)

Former Mujahideen hold weapons to support Afghan forces in their fight against Taliban, on the outskirts of Herat province, Afghanistan on July 10, 2021. (Photo by Jalil Ahmad/Reuters)

A hyena stands chained to its handler at a circus in Gabasawa, Kano State, Nigeria, July 27, 2021. Hyenas are often viewed as repulsive and sinister, partly due to their scavenging habits in the wild, but in northern Nigeria some men keep the creatures in their homes, display them at festivals and even use their dung to make remedies. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

The Lake of Lights at Talkin Tarn lake near Brampton in Cumbria, England on October 22, 2017 – where hundreds of lights in the surrounding woodland represent a cherished memory of a relative friend or loved one no longer with us. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)