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)

A toque macaque is eating flowers in the water at the pilgrimage site in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, on January 13, 2024. The toque macaque (Macaca sinica), a reddish-brown-colored Old World monkey, is endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is known as the rilewa or rilawa. It is named for the whorl of hair at the crown of its head, which resembles a brimless toque cap. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Sophia Fernandes, a member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, dons traditional afro braids, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, August 13, 2022. Devotees celebrate Our Lady of Abadia at this time of the year with weddings, baptisms and by crowning distinguished community members, as they maintain cultural practices originating from Africa that mix with Catholic traditions. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)

A trader weighs tobacco at a market in el-Fasher, in North Darfur February 5, 2015. Tobacco is one of the North Darfur war zone's main cash crops. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

Salvadoran indigenous participate in the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples at Divino Slavador square in San Salvador, El Salvador, 09 August 2016. (Photo by Oscar Rivera/EPA)

A young man dressed as “La Llorona”, participates in a parade called “La Calabiuza” on the eve of the Day of the Dead in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador, November 1, 2019. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

A Cholita (Andean woman) fighter makes a key to their opponent during a wrestling session at the Havana Hotel Cholet in El Alto, outskirts in La Paz, Bolivia on June 29, 2018. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)

A participant in the traditional dance of Los Historiantes poses for a photo during festivities in honour of St. Michael the Archangel in San Miguel Tepezontes, El Salvador September 28, 2016. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)