Hooded demonstrators vandalise a shop window in Mexico City, during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco student massacre, on October 2, 2018. Fifty years ago, Mexican troops opened fire on student demonstrators, killing hundreds just days before Mexico City hosted the 1968 Olympics – one of the darkest episodes in a year of global turbulence. (Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP 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)

Model, skydiver and wing-suit jumper Roberta Mancino, 33, swims with a whale shark on February 2014 in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. A female skydiver swims with whale sharks, manta rays and sailfish – the fastest fish in the sea. Model, skydiver and wing-suit jumper Roberta Mancino, 33, jumped from a boat into the ocean surrounding Isla Mujeres near the northern Peninsula of Mexico. The incredible project involved two trips to the stormy winter seas – one in February 2013 and one a year later in February 2014. (Photo by Shawn Heinrichs/Barcroft Media)

A man looks at a statue of the Greek god Poseidon on a beach during the passage of tropical storm Beryl in Progreso, on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, on July 5, 2024. Beryl weakened to a tropical storm Friday after hitting Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no injuries along the tourist-rich Yucatan Peninsula. (Photo by Hugo Borges/AFP Photo)

Students pose for a pictures taken by their friends during spring break on the beach in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico, February 27, 2009. (Photo by Israel Leal/AP Photo)

Women perform a pole dancing routine during the national day celebration of “Urban Pole” dance along a street in Monterrey, Mexico, on June 9, 2013. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

Guns decorated with gold and jewellery are displayed in the Drugs Museum, used by the military to showcase to soldiers the lifestyles of Mexican drug lords, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Mexico City, October 14, 2016. (Photo by Henry Romero/Reuters)

A man helps a child to dress as Jawa, a character from the Star Wars movie series, during an event organised by Star Wars fan club Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, December 13, 2015. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)