A petitioner with her grievances written on her clothes walks along a street in Beijing Tuesday, December 22, 2015. After months behind bars, Pu Zhiqiang, one of China's most prominent human rights lawyers, left a detention center Tuesday after receiving a suspended prison sentence in a case involving online comments critical of the ruling Communist Party. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

In this November 3, 2015 file photo, Afghan Taliban fighters listen to Mullah Mohammed Rasool, the newly-elected leader of a breakaway faction of the Taliban, in Farah province, Afghanistan. Despite US President Donald Trump’s pronouncement that there would be no talks with the Taliban following a series of deadly attacks in Kabul, officials say talks continue, but neither side trusts the other and neither believes the other negotiates independently. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

A group of dust covered child labourers gather for a portrait in the brick kiln in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, 22 February 2015. Bleak photos identify the children working their fingers to the bone in Nepalís brick kilns. Photographer Jan Mˆller Hansen documented the conditions of the brick kilns in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal between 2013 and 2016 while he lived and worked in the area. Jan estimates between 150,000 and 175,000 people are employed in the 200 brick kilns littering the Kathmandu Valley. (Photo by Jan Moeller Hansen/Barcroft 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)

A bomb-laden Su-25 jet at the Hmeimim air base in December 2015. Russia's lease agreement obliged Assad’s military to safeguard the perimeter of the Hmeimim base, while giving Moscow legal jurisdiction over the facilities inside. Negotiating perimeter protection from Syria’s new rulers will be vital for the Russian bases in an era of wire-controlled drones immune to jamming. (Photo by AP Photo)

Drag queen Lior Israelov (L), who goes by the stage name Suzi Boum, and his transgender sister Arizona pose for a photo in a studio In Tel Aviv June 3, 2015. While Tel Aviv has become a world-class destination for gay tourism, the holy city of Jerusalem was the scene of an attack by an ultra-Orthodox Jew that killed an Israeli teenager at an annual Gay Pride parade on July 30. The assailant, who called the parade an abomination against God, has been charged with murder. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Indonesian child jockey Egi, 8, poses for photographs as he participates in a traditional horse race marking Indonesia's 70th independence anniversary, in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, 08 August 2015. Horse racing is the traditional sport in the area and a cultural heritage which continues to be preserved by the people of Bima, a small city on the east side of Sumbawa island. Similar races also held in Sumbawa Besar regency and Dompu regency. (Photo by Mast Irham/EPA)

A participant runs on stairs during a vertical run event at China World Summit Wing hotel in Beijing, China, September 19, 2015. About 800 runners took part in the event on Saturday, which takes runners up 82 floors, covering a total of 2,041 steps to a height of 330 metres, the organizer said. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)