Ethnic “Kam” (also known as Dong) women get ready for a traditional wedding ritual known as the “steal the chicken at the drum tower” in a minority Dong village in southwestern Chinese city of Congjiang, Guizhou province, China January 29, 2017. The ceremony held in the ethnic Kam minority village of Gantuan in Guizhou province is based on a tradition dating back some 500 years that was revived and modified in the 1990s for villagers and tourists. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A boy sits on the back of a crocodile on May 19, 2018 at a pond in Bazoule in Burkina Faso, a village which happily shares its local pond with “sacred” crocodiles. Crocodiles may be one of the deadliest hunters in the animal kingdom, but in a small village in Burkina Faso it is not unusual to see someone sitting atop one of the fearsome reptiles. According to local legend, the startling relationship with the predators dates back to at least the 15 th century. The village was in the grip of an agonising drought until the crocodiles led women to a hidden pond where the population could slake their thirst. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)

In this September 14, 2017 photo, young women pose for a photo inside their squatter building that used to house the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in the Mangueira slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Many lower-middle class Brazilians who gained ground during the boom years have since slid back closer to the poverty line. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Women porters load bundles onto their back for transport across the El Tarajal boarder separating Morocco and Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, in Ceuta on December 4, 2014. Unemployment among Ceuta and Melilla's native workforce is more than 30 percent – among the highest rates in Spain. Meanwhile, authorities say some 30,000 Moroccan traders and menial workers cross into each territory every day. (Photo by Jorge Guerrero/AFP Photo)

Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A Manipuri woman sells smoked and dry fish in Ima market - the world's largest all women market – in Imphal city, Manipur state, 06 January 2016. The 150-year-old Ima Keithel or “Mothers's market” complex, which is run exclusively by women and was damaged in the 04 January 2016 earthquake, is returning back to normal. Nine deaths have been reported from in and around Imphal due to falling debris. Imphal has a population of some 270,000 and people were jolted from their sleep and ran out of their homes in panic when the earth shook 04 January, reports say. (Photo by EPA/Stringer)

“Fernando Botero Angulo (born April 19, 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist. His works feature a figurative style, called by some “Boterismo”, which gives them an unmistakable identity. Botero depicts women, men, daily life, historical events and characters, milestones of art, still-life, animals and the natural world in general, with exaggerated and disproportionate volumetry, accompanied by fine details of scathing criticism, irony, humor, and ingenuity”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire view “Dancers” by artist Fernando Botero in the gardens of their home Chatsworth House on September 10, 2009, Chatsworth, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/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)