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 young girl splashes through a waterfall at a park in Washington, DC, on June 28, 2021, as a heatwave moves over much of the United States. Swathes of the United States and Canada endured record-setting heat on June 27, 2021, forcing schools and Covid-19 testing centers to close and the postponement of an Olympic athletics qualifying event, with forecasters warning of worse to come. The village of Lytton in British Columbia broke the record for Canada's all-time high, with a temperature of 46.6 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit), said Environment Canada. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP Photo)

McKensi Pascall is painted by artist Tom Sebazco at Human Connection Arts 8th Annual NYC Body Painting Day in Union Square Park on Sunday, July 25, 2021 in New York. (Photo by Brittainy Newman/AP Photo)

Buddhist believers wearing faces masks to help protect against the spread of the new coronavirus wait to attend a service to pray for overcoming the COVID-19 outbreak and to celebrate Buddha's birthday at the Chogyesa temple in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 30, 2020. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Police officers react as they attempt to detain a protestor near the entrance to Downing Street, during an anti-racism demonstration in London, on June 3, 2020, after George Floyd, an unarmed black man died after a police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest in Minneapolis, USA. Londoners defied coronavirus restrictions and rallied on Wednesday in solidarity with protests raging across the United States over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died during an arrest on May 25. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP Photo)

Joseph Fons holding a Pride Flag, runs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building after the court ruled that a federal law banning workplace discrimination also covers sexual orientation, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 15, 2020. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Reuters)

Health workers wearing face masks spray disinfectant liquid on sacrificial animals amid concerns over the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the pandemic COVID-19 disease ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha at an animal market in Hyderabad, southern Pakistan, 21 July 2020. (Photo by Nadeem Khawar/EPA/EFE)

Caesar McCool, a therapy llama nicknamed the “No Drama Llama” and his handler Larry McCool greet a driver in a McLaren at the site of ongoing protests against police violence and racial inequality, in Portland, Oregon, U.S., August 6, 2020. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Reuters)