The Mayon volcano continues to erupt as the sun sets behind Legazpi city, Thursday, January 25, 2018 in Albay province, roughly 340 kilometers, (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

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)

Boxers Deontay Wilder, left, and Tyson Fury exchange words as they face each other at a news conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, November 28, 2018. The pair are slated to fight Saturday night for Wilder's WBC heavyweight title. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters)

Santa Claus reacts as (L) Tami McEleney and (R) Patrice Conner whisper in his ear at the King of Prussia Mall, United States' largest retail shopping space, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 8, 2018. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)

LGBT activists take part in a “Rave Pride” demanding state support for the local LGBTQ outside Ukrainian President's office in Kyiv, Ukraine on July 30, 2021. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

A black gibbon is seen in a cage before being released into the wild by Indonesian nature conservation agency (BKSDA) in Jantho forest, Aceh province on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

This picture taken on September 9, 2021 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a parade of “paramilitary and public security forces” to celebrate the 73rd founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo/Stringer)

A woman reacts as she lays flowers outside the Perm State University following a campus shooting in Perm, about 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, September 21, 2021. A student opened fire at the university, leaving a number of people dead and injured, before being shot in a crossfire with police and detained. Beyond saying that he was a student, authorities offered no further information on his identity or a possible motive. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)