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)

English actress Diana Rigg as “Emma Peel” is tied to a railway track as a miniature train advances on her in a scene from the television series “The Avengers” in 1968. Rigg died at her home in London on 10 September 2020, at the age of 82. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

The Rockettes perform at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York, US on November 30, 2021. (Photo by Ralph Bavaro/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

A girl jumps over a campfire while celebrating Ivan Kupala Night, a traditional Slavic holiday not far from Kiev on July 6, 2013. During the celebration, originating in pagan times, people plait wreaths, jump over fires, and swim naked. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)

Tourists take a panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur from a skybox during a media preview at Kuala Lumpur Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 05 May 2016. Skybox, 421 metres above ground level will be the latest tourists attraction at Kuala Lumpur Tower, the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world. (Photo by Ahmad Yusni/EPA)

Jeremy Scott's spring 2019 collection is modeled during Fashion Week in New York, Thursday, September 6, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/AP Photo)

Groupama Sailing Team, skippered by Franck Cammas of France during leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race to Cape Town on November 6, 2011. (Photo by Yann Riou/Groupama Sailing Team/Volvo Ocean Race via Getty Images)