In this photograph taken on June 11, 2018, Chinese artists performs during a Indo-China cultural exchange program in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/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)

Picture shows a mural painting in Ferrol, on September 2, 2018, during the annual street art festival “Meninas de Canido” set up in 2008 to breathe new life in a dying neighborhood. Angry at the announced death of his neighborhood, Canido, in Ferrol, Eduardo Hermida painted his version of Velazquez's “Meninas” on a wall. An act of protest that gave birth to a festival and gave new colors to this city of Galicia. (Photo by Miguel Riopa/AFP Photo)

Svetlana Tseyko feeds a 10-month-old moose named Grisha in the courtyard in the village of Abramy, some 160 km northwest of Minsk, on February 21, 2017. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

A kite flying contest is held in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu featuring various kites of different shapes on December 20, 2017. (Photo by SIPA Asia/Pacific Press/Barcroft Images)

Supporters react as U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to the White House in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2019. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Reuters)

Police officers speak to a woman in Greenwich Park in London, England on April 4, 2020. The Government has announced a lockdown to slow the spread of Coronavirus and reduce pressure on the NHS. (Photo by Alamy Live News)

A PSE&G utility worker watches the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds conduct “a collaborative salute” to honor those battling the COVID-19 pandemic with a flyover of New York and New Jersey, Tuesday, April 28, 2020, in this view from Jersey City, N.J. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Photo)