A junk boat sails in to dock as a woman sits on the pier in the central district of Hong Kong on May 15, 2019. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence/AFP Photo)

Participants pose as they take part in a bodybuilding and fitness event named “China Fit”, in Beijing, China, June 15, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Fashion enthusiast Sophie Cochevelou poses for a portrait during London Fashion Week in London, Britain, September 15, 2018. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

A youth skates next to a road in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia on August 15, 2018. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

Young girls pose for a photo during the Kumari Puja Ritual on the 9th day of the Durga puja festival at a Pandal (Temporary place for worship) in Kolkata on October 4, 2022. Kumari Puja is an Indian Hindu Tradition mainly celebrated during the Durga Puja according to the Hindu Calendar. The philosophical basis of Kumari Puja is to establish the value of women. Devotees believe it will overcome all barriers, dangers for the young girls in the coming future and also, they will be empowered to handle any stress and obstruction in their coming life. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“Maya” girl Ines de la Paloma, 9, (L), sits with her friend Nuria Sanchez Caballero, 6, at an altar during “Las Mayas” festivity in Madrid, Spain, May 8, 2016. “Las Mayas” festival is held annually at the beginning of May to celebrate the awakening of nature in Spring. Young girls are chosen to become “Mayas” and sit at altars decorated with flowers so that people can admire them. (Photo by Susana Vera/Reuters)

As part of FLAIR Melbourne – a Flinders Lane art festival – Melbourne’s Lisa Minogue presents stylised photographic portraits of Australian women of colour, their faces painted vibrantly to accentuate their individuality and encourage the viewer to study each face more closely. Minogue asked each woman the same question: “What do the words “coloured girl” mean to you?”. (Photo by Lisa Minogue/The Guardian)

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)