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)

An Indian girl dressed in traditional attire reacts to camera as she watches a cultural performance during Lohri festival in Jammu, India, Monday, January 13, 2014. Lohri is a celebration of the winter solstice observed by Hindus and Sikhs in northern India. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)

An Indian girl cries as a medical worker collect her swab sample for COVID-19 test at a rural health center in Bagli, outskirts of Dharmsala, India, Monday, September 7, 2020. India's coronavirus cases are now the second-highest in the world and only behind the United States. (Photo by Ashwini Bhatia/AP Photo)

Two girls dressed up for a night out in Newcastle, United Kingdom on November 01, 2020 – just hours after Boris Johnson's announcement. Johnson says the new measures will begin on Thursday and last until second of December. (Photo by North News and Pictures/The Sun)

Kendall Jenner attends the screening of “Girls Of The Sun (Les Filles Du Soleil)” during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 12, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images)

A girl uses a mattress as a raft during the flood after the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam collapsed in Attapeu province, Laos July 26, 2018. At least 26 people were killed and over 3,000 people stranded after a hydroelectric dam built collapsed in southeastern Laos, destroying thousands of homes and leaving an unknown number of dead. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

A girl stretches next to a pram on the embankment of the Moskva river in Moscow on October 18, 2018. The European part of Russia enjoys an unusually warm weather for the season with temperatures reaching up to 22 degrees centigrade. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

A young girl takes selfie with Easter rabbit sculpture during the Easter eggs (Pysanka) and rabbit exhibition in front of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, 05 April 2018. Ukrainians will mark Orthodox Easter on 08 April 2018, according to Julian calendar. (Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)