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)

Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland (L) sees his shot deflected into the net by Luton Town's Japanese defender #27 Daiki Hashioka (R) for an own-goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Darren Staples/AFP Photo)

Wayne McMahon from “The Wolfhound Experience” walking alongside four Irish Wolfhounds: Connell, Mac, Brendan, and Barra, accompanied by an Irish Terrier Lady MacBeth, at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland, on May 16, 2024. The Wolfhound Experience offers a one-hour walking tour in Dublin's St. Stephens' Green, where visitors can meet and learn about Irish Wolfhounds, the gentle giants of the canine world. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Spain's Paula Badosa gives a thumbs up after falling on the court during her women's singles semi-final match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka on day twelve of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 23, 2025. (Photo by David Gray/AFP Photo)

A fledgling solar system containing deep within it enough water vapor to fill all the oceans on Earth five times, located in our Milky Way galaxy about 1,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Perseus. (Photo by Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Two female soldiers have their picture taken by an army colleague at Mangyongdae. (Photo by Gavin John/Mediadrumworld.com)

Eight-year-old Lactatia a.k.a. Nemis Quinn Mélançon Golden gets a makeover by Ginger Minj during RuPaul's DragCon NYC 2017 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on September 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

An annual fire festival is held in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on July 14, 2019. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)