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)

In this Saturday, December 30, 2017, picture a girl wearing a bear fur costume takes part in an annual bear parade in Comanesti, Romania. It's a tradition that originated in pre-Christian times, when dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs went from house to house in villages, singing and dancing to ward off evil. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Two cats watch a mouse walking on the pavement in Kuwait City on March 8,2017. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP Photo)

Women perform the Chilean protest song about rape culture, “A rapist in your path”, during a protest march marking International Women's Day, in Lima, Peru. Saturday, March 7, 2020. March 8th has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1975 as International Women's Day, celebrating women's achievements and aiming to further their rights. Marches and protests are held across the globe with calls for a more gender-balanced world to mark the day. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Women sits outside a go-go dance bar in Pattaya, Thailand March 25, 2017s. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

A woman walks at the Boulevard of the River the eve of the International Women's Day, in Cali, Colombia, 07 March 2019. (Photo by Ernesto Guzman Jr./EPA/EFE)

Wedges of an orange generate enough current and electrical juice – 3.5 volts – to power an LED. The fruit’s citric acid helps electrons flow from galvanized nails to copper wire in this 14-hour exposure. This image was published in September’s Visions of Earth, a trio of photos that appear in each issue of National Geographic. (Photo by Caleb Charland/National Geographic)

A man takes a picture of sea spray as storms hit Cape Town, South Africa, June 7, 2017. (Photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters)