Cameron Crazies and fans of the Duke Blue Devils pose for a photo prior to the game against the Miami Hurricanes at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 14, 2025 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)

A girl holds a blossom in her mouth while posing for photos under cherry blossom trees at Wuhan University on March 11, 2021 in Wuhan, China. Tourists come to view cherry blossoms at the university during the spring. Wuhan University, first founded in 1893, is widely known as one of the most beautiful universities in China. (Photo by Getty Images/China Stringer Network)

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 model wearing a creation by Designer Michelle Adepoju, founder of Kilentar, poses for a photograph ahead of a private installation to launch the SS26 collection during Lagos Fashion Week in Lagos, on November 1, 2025. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)

A baby baboon appears to ride its mother like a horse at the Chobe River, in The Chobe National Park, Botswana, Southern Africa in January 2023. Young monkeys often ride on their parent's backs, like this Chacma baboon, for protection. (Photo by William Steel/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A wounded Syrian girl looks on at a make shift hospital in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, following shelling and air raids by Syrian government forces on August 22, 2015. At least 20 civilians and wounded or trapped 200 in Douma, a monitoring group said, just six days after regime air strikes killed more than 100 people and sparked international condemnation of one of the bloodiest government attacks in Syria's war. (Photo by Abd Doumany/AFP Photo)

A girl wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks past a display of garments at a market in Bengaluru, India, Saturday, January 9, 2021. India will kick off the coronavirus vaccination drive on Jan. 16 to stem the pandemic in the world's second-most populous country. A Health Ministry statement says that priority will be given to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers, estimated around 30 million. (Photo by Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo)

Argentine Juan Manuel Silva and Pablo Sisterna (not pictured) crash in their Mercedes car during the 7th stage of the Dakar Rally from Iquique to Uyuni, January 10, 2015. (Photo by Daniel Rodrigo/Reuters)