Smoke billows from a high-rise apartment building in west London Wednesday, June 14, 2017. A massive fire raced through the building early Wednesday, emergency officials said. (Photo by Rick Findler/PA Wire via AP Photo)

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)

Masked guests attend the “Grand Bal Christian Dior” during the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, Monday, January 22, 2018. (Photo by Kamil Zihnioglu/AP Photo)

People have fun on an alley through Christmas lights in downtown Chisinau, Moldova, 23 December 2021. Traditionally, people from former countries of the Soviet Union, still celebrate Christmas on two occasions, on 25 December and 07 January. (Photo by Dumitru Doru/EPA/EFE)

Iranian chess player Sara Khadem competes, without wearing a hijab, in FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan December 26, 2022, in this picture obtained by Reuters on December 27, 2022. (Photo by Lennart Ootes/FIDE/via Reuters)

Lee Kiefer of Team United States competes against Jessica Zi Jia Guo of Team Canada on Fencing - Women's Foil Individual at Parque Deportivo Panamericano on Day 10 of Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games on October 30, 2023 in Santiago, Chile. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Women pose for a selfie in a lavender field at Hitchin Lavender farm in Ickleford, Britain, August 4, 2020. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

A woman in traditional clothes wears a pin showing North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung (L) and former leader Kim Jong-il, on her dress as she welcomes foreign reporters to a temple during a government organised tour just outside Pyongyang October 8, 2015. North Korea is getting ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea on October 10. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)