Honor guards are viewed during an official welcoming ceremony for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by Albanian President Bajram Begaj, in Tirana, Albania on October 10, 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was welcomed by Albanian President Bajram Begaj with an official ceremony ahead of their meeting. (Photo by Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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)

Volunteers skin western diamondback rattlesnakes during the 2021 Rattlesnake Roundup at the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater, Texas on March 13, 2021. The town of Sweetwater holds the largest rattlesnake roundup in the world, launched in 1958 with the sole purpose of getting rid of rattlesnakes, killing an average of 5,000 pounds of snake each year. (Photo by Paul Ratje/AFP Photo)

Flight attendants of Zhejiang Loong Airlines undergo rigorous posture training on March 14, 2022 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. A total of 300 flight attendants received an etiquette training, including 13 courses for Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which will be held from Sept. 10 to 25, 2022 in Hangzhou. (Photo by Wang Gang/China News Service via Getty Images)

Yuanlei Liao, the singer of hardcore band called Thank Ray wears a read scarf after performing on the stage of Mao Live House during the club's last public concert night in central Beijing, China April 23, 2016. Mao Live House, a prominent live rock music venue in Beijing, shut its doors on the weekend, the latest closure to hit China's rock music scene. Owner Li Chi said the club, popular among fans of punk, metal and alternative rock since it opened nine years ago, was forced to close due to tighter rules on live performances. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Thai classical dancers perform for Phra Phrom, the Thai interpretation of the Hindu god Brahma, at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, September 4, 2015. Thai authorities unveiled the restored centerpiece Friday of the Erawan Shrine, in the latest bid to restore confidence among Bangkok's tourism and business communities almost three weeks after a deadly bombing. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

Pumpkins and a mock up skull are seen ahead of Halloween at Wilmersdorfer Strasse shopping street, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Berlin, Germany, October 26, 2020. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

Rescue workers try to help a driver out of his car, after the vehicle was stuck over an alley in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, August 4, 2014. The car rolled off the edge of a road after the driver was late to brake, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)