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 man feeds langur monkeys during a lockdown amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in Pushkar on April 28, 2021. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/AFP Photo)

Demonstrators march in Port-au-Prince on February 14, 2021, to protest against the government of President Jovenel Moise. Several thousand people demonstrated Sunday in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, saying the government was trying to establish a new dictatorship and denouncing international support for President Jovenel Moise. The protests were mostly peaceful, although a few clashes broke out between some demonstrators and police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. (Photo by Valerie Baeriswyl/AFP Photo)

African ostrichs are seen during sunny autumn day in the largest ostrich farm “Nornieki” in Snepele, Latvia, 18 October 2021. (Photo by Toms Kalnins/EPA/EFE)

A woman reacts after she mades a wreath of flowers during the celebrations of the Kupala night in Pyrohiv, near Kiev, on July 6, 2021. During the celebration, an ancient slavic ritual related to the summer solstice, people wear wreaths, jump over fires and bathe naked in rivers and lakes. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)

Reverend Peter Wall blesses a hamster during “The Blessing of Animals” at St. James Cathedral in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A tourist splashes water on the frozen Songhua River on December 18, 2023 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province of China. The water immediately freezes into ice in the frigid air. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Shi'ite Muslim girls take part in a mourning procession to mark Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)