This shot, which was announced the winner by the on December 2, 2022 came top in the People and Nature category of the British Ecological Society’s Capturing Ecology photography competition. (Photo by British Ecological Society)

British model Leomie Anderson and British television presenter AJ Odudu pose as they arrive for the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London, Britain on February 11, 2023. (Photo by Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters)

The Big Island's Mauna Loa Volcano erupts on November 28, 2022 on the Island of Hawaii. For the first time in almost 40 years, the biggest active volcano in the world erupted prompting an emergency response on the Big Island. (Photo by Andrew Richard Hara/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)

Runners warm up during the Team Pants And Bra photcall at City Hall on January 26, 2012 in London, England. Team Pants and Bra sprinted through central London this morning, encouraging fellow runners to join TeamPB and proudly wear pants and bras for the Virgin London Marathon in April, representing The Prostate Cancer Charity and Breast Cancer Care. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Prostate Cancer)

Masked penitents holds their crosses during spring “Romeria Cruceros de Arce”, in Roncesvalles, northern Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2015. Every year on the second Sunday in spring, people with crosses march from their small Pyrenees towns to Roncesvalles Church in tribute of the Virgin. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

A donkey is seen before the start of the procession of the “Virgem da Atalaia” during Holy Week at Alcochete, near Lisbon April 5, 2015. Women ride donkeys during the “Virgem da Atalaia” procession, that has been held annually for about 400 years. In the past, only single women rode the donkeys to ask for help from the Virgin to find a husband. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)