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)

People walk next to of the pantheon of the Marquesa de San Juan de Nieva, chosen as the best tomb sculpture of Spain in a Spanish magazine this week, in the municipal cemetery of La Carriona in Aviles, northern Spain, October 29, 2015. Catholics will mark All Saints' Day on Sunday by visiting cemeteries and graves of deceased relatives and friends. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

Members of the Paraguay-African cultural group Kamba Cua dance during celebrations in honor of Saint Balthazar, one of the Three Kings, on Epiphany in Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay, late Saturday, January 8, 2022, just days after the official holiday. The annual procession is a tradition that keeps Paraguay's Afro-descendants connected with their African roots through ancestral dance, drumming and customs. (Photo by Jorge Saenz/AP Photo)

Sophia Fernandes, a member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, dons traditional afro braids, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, August 13, 2022. Devotees celebrate Our Lady of Abadia at this time of the year with weddings, baptisms and by crowning distinguished community members, as they maintain cultural practices originating from Africa that mix with Catholic traditions. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)

Donny Golden shares a laugh with dancers from the Irish American Society during the 250th annual St. Patrick's Day parade March 17, 2011 in New York City. The parade honors the patron saint of Ireland and marched for the first time in the U.S. on March 17, 1762, fourteen years before the Declaration of Independence.

Women in traditional costumes wait for a statue of the El Carmen Virgin to be carried into the sea during a procession in Malaga July 16, 2015. Many seaside towns celebrate the annual feast of the El Carmen Virgin, who is worshipped as the patron saint of sailors. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

Cemetery workers repaint tombs inside the municipal cemetery in Navotas city, north of Manila October 29, 2015. Filipinos are preparing to celebrate All Saints Day on November 1 by visiting the graves of their departed loved ones. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

Russian political artist Nadezhda Khuzina was born December 12, 1982 in the city of Serpukhov, Russia. In 2001 she graduated from Moscow Region Pedagogical College, in 2008 – St. Petersburg Art and Industry Academy. Now Nadezhda Khuzina is living in San Diego, CA. Nadezhda Khuzina “Nadia” has devoted her last paintings to Winter Olympics in Sochi, featuring Russian president Putin in different roles. Vladimir Putin is able to perform any sport – skater and skier, hockey player and snowboarder, such James Bond of Olympics, able to cope with any task. The creative artist is inspired by the image of Russian president, a charismatic man Vladimir Putin