Hindu devotees (not pictured) touch a child with their feet as part of a ritual to bless him during a religious procession held to mark the Gajan festival in Kolkata, India, April 13, 2018. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Models showcase designs aboard fishing boats off Ngor Island during the 23rd Dakar Fashion Week, organized by Senegalese-French designer Adama N'Diaye, founder of the brand “Adama Paris”, on December 6, 2025, in Dakar, Senegal. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu via Getty Images)

4-year-old Tasmina adjusts her protective face mask as she waits with her family for a train at a railway station, as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Karachi, Pakistan on June 9, 2020. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/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)

Pro-Russian rebels stand near a monument during a ceremony to honour the World War Two defenders of Donetsk from Nazi forces, in Donetsk, in this September 8, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

“Hydrocynus goliath, also known as the goliath tigerfish, giant tigerfish or mbenga, is a very large African predatory freshwater fish. The giant tigerfish is restricted to the Zaire River system, Lualaba River, Lake Upemba and Lake Tanganyika”. (Photo by Tigerfishcamp / Tourettefishing / Bigfishesoftheworld)

People are captured by FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) HD Thermal Imaging Cameras as they walk near the FLIR exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES 2019 in Las Vegas on January 10, 2019. (Photo by David McNew/AFP Photo)

Human wax figures to build scenes depicting traditional life in a new museum are seen in Basra, Iraq on June 12, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Aty/Reuters)