“The King”, Johnathon Haddock poses for a portrait with the Garland before the procession during “Castleton Garland Day” on May 29, 2019 in Castleton, England. The first records of Garland day date back to the 1700's and though it's true origins are not fully understood it is believed to be an ancient fertility rite with Celtic connections. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/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)

In this photo taken on Saturday, April 22, 2017, a drawing “King for a day” is made on the back of a muddy truck by artist Nikita Golubev in Moscow, Russia. The grimy trucks traversing the polluted and dusty streets of Moscow have inspired Golubev to use white vans and trucks as his canvas to create this ephemeral street art and signs his drawings Pro Boy Nick. (Photo by Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo)

Drinkers leave the bars as police patrol in Soho, in central London on September 24, 2020 as the clock nears 10pm, on the first day of the new earlier closing times for pubs and bars in England and Wales, introduced to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Britain has tightened restrictions to stem a surge of coronavirus cases, ordering pubs to close early and advising people to go back to working from home to prevent a second national lockdown. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP Photo)

In this Monday, September 22, 2014 photo provided by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, a young cougar is released back into Utah's mountains by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in an undisclosed site in central Utah. State wildlife officials received reports of the cougar roaming Sunday afternoon in a residential area of the city's eastern flank, a few miles from the base of the Wasatch Mountains. Authorities say cougars generally avoid humans but sometimes enter neighborhoods close to their mountain habitats. (Photo by Steve Gray/AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)

Vivian Odhiambo, 24, frys samosas in the trading centre of Kogelo, west of Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 14, 2015. Odhiambo said, “Obama is our hero and we wait to welcome him back home again. We in Kogelo have witnessed general growth and we are proud of being associated with the Obamas”, she added. As U.S. President Barack Obama visits Kenya, a personal connection to his father's birthplace of Kogelo dominates a trip that Kenyans view as a native son returning home. Residents from a herdsman to a housewife share their views on what Obama has achieved and what they would like to see next. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

An unknown number of guns are being built with the mechanisms, causing problems for the police and ATF officials. Photo: An ATF agent holds a generic unfinished receiver, back, and one that has been manufactured, front, at an ATF field office in Washington, on May 06, 2014. The ATF is trying to crack down on the trade in the makeshift guns by targeting shops and individuals who offer to turn the unfinished receivers into functional pieces for firearms. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Pedestrians and workers pass an upside down car art installation in a car park on the South Bank in London, February 19, 2015. British artist Alex Chinneck's illusory piece, entitled “Pick yourself up and pull yourself together”, and on display in the working car park for a week, sees a Vauxhall car suspended upside down, appearing to be gripping onto a peeled back length of tarmac. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)