A hyena stands chained to its handler at a circus in Gabasawa, Kano State, Nigeria, July 27, 2021. Hyenas are often viewed as repulsive and sinister, partly due to their scavenging habits in the wild, but in northern Nigeria some men keep the creatures in their homes, display them at festivals and even use their dung to make remedies. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

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)

Family members mourn the passing of Manuela Chavez, who died from symptoms related to the new coronavirus at the age of 88, as a government team prepares to remove her body from inside her home, in the Shipibo Indigenous community of Pucallpa, in Peru's Ucayali region, Monday, August 31, 2020. While the lucky are cured with ancestral ailments, the less fortunate often die at home. A government team travels from one spartan, thatch-roofed home to the next, removing the dead from their homes where they took their last breaths. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Participants approach a law enforcement officer with open arms during an opposition demonstration to protest against police violence and to reject the presidential election results near the Government House in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus on August 14, 2020. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

The Etam models perform on catwalk during ETAM Show at Flagship Hausmann near Opera in Paris, France on September 29, 2020. (Photo by J.P. Pariente/SIPA Press)

A man carrying buckets walks along a beach littered with piles of debris and plastic waste at the Kedonganan beach in Bali, Indonesia, 19 March 2024. Most of the trash ends up in the sea every rainy season due to the island's lack of a centralized waste management system. (Photo by Made Nagi/EPA/EFE)

Models wear creations as part of the Maccapani men's and women's Spring Summer 2024 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)

Kim Kardashian West attends the opening night of the new musical “The Cher Show” on Broadway at Neil Simon Theatre on December 03, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)