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)

The Tianzi Hotel with the shape of Chinese deities Fu, Lu and Shou is pictured on November 20, 2017 in Langfang, Hebei Province of China. The 41.6-meter-tall Tianzi Hotel has an exterior of Chinese Sanxing, whose names are Fu, Lu and Shou with the qualities of prosperity, status and longevity in traditional Chinese culture, in Langfang city. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Iranian worshippers chant slogans during a protest after their Friday prayer, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad on September 14, 2012. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/Associated Press)

A woman clutches a teddy bear covered in red paint to symbolize blood during a government-approved, anti-violence rally held in the Kazakh city of Almaty on November 26, 2023. Organized by the New People youth movement, roughly 300 people took part. The rally was dubbed “Say No To The Animal World”, with organizers likening violent people to animals. (Photo by Petr Trotsenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

A homeless girl asks for alms outside a coffee shop in Mumbai, India, June 24, 2016. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Body builders preparing at the backstage during the Bodybuilding Cup in Kiev, Ukraine on November 7, 2015 which includes classic bodybuilding, physicist and body fitness and bikini in the competition. (Photo by Nazar Furyk/Pacific Press)

“«Pirate radio» in the UK first became widespread in the early 1960s when pop music stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London started to broadcast on medium wave to the UK from offshore ships or disused sea forts. At the time these stations were not illegal because they were broadcasting from international waters. The stations were set up by entrepreneurs and music enthusiasts to meet the growing demand for pop and rock music, which was not catered for by the legal BBC Radio services”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The “World in Action” team making a program about the pirate radio ship Caroline, filmed by Paddy Searle, and produced by Mike Hodges. The DJ being filmed is Robbie Dale, and Hodges is standing behind him. (Photo by James Jackson/Evening Standard/Getty Images). 6th September 1967

A high-kicking Parisian can-can dancer. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1895