A woman watches the St. Patrick's day parade in Dublin, Ireland on March 17, 2017. St. Patrick's Day is marked annually on 17 March to commemorate Saint Patrick, a patron saint of Ireland. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

A young woman flashes the victory sign in front of a bonfire as Turkish Kurds gather during Newroz celebrations for the new year in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on March 21, 2018. Newroz (also known as Nawroz or Nowruz) is an ancient Persian festival, which is also celebrated by Kurdish people, marking the first day of spring, which falls on March 21. (Photo by Ilyas Akengin/AFP Photo)

A dog waits to be blessed by a priest outside San Anton Church in Mijas, near Malaga, Spain, January 17, 2017. Hundreds of pet owners bring their animals to be blessed every year on the day of Saint Anthony, Spain's patron saint of animals. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

Students from the University of St Andrews jump into The North Sea, as a good luck tradition before exams start on the East Sands in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland on May 1, 2018. (Photo by Derek Allan/Alamy Live News)

A woman attends an opposition demonstration against presidential election results at the Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus on August 22, 2020. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A young boy walks to his school bus on a foggy day in Dubai on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Chris Whiteoak/The National)

A rare fog bow over Needles Headland on the Isle of Wight in UK late Wednesday afternoon, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Paul Jacobs/Picture Exclusive)

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)