A youth skates next to a road in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia on August 15, 2018. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

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)

Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez attend The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Kendall Jenner seen at Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler on Sunday, January 8, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Focus Features/AP Images)

Dolly the Chihuahua dog dressed as Alice in Wonderland is photographed during an Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed Furbabies Dog Pageant at Jodhpurs Riding School in Tockwith, North Yorkshire, Sunday September 6, 2020. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire via AP Photo)

The New World porcupine, family Erethizontidae, 1280 Gram born at 11 April 2015 Inventory in Zoo. Counting trade Fairs Weighing the Zoo is at 7 May 2015 too the 108 Birthday Zoo Hagenbeck Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Imago/ZUMA Wire)

Firefighters pull a pig as they try to rescue it from a well at a pig farm in Huanghua township of Leqing, Zhejiang province, April 25, 2014. Seven local firefighters successfully rescued a 300 kg (661 lbs) pig which fell down a well on Friday morning, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

A peformance artist attends an election rally for Cameroon presidential candidate for the opposition Univers party, Cabral Libii in Yaounde, Cameroon 06 October 2018. Africa's oldest president Paul Biya who has been in power since 1982 is up against eight candidates when voters go to the polls 07 October 2018. 6.9 million registered voters will head to the polls but marginalised anglophone separatists in the North West and South West of the country threaten to disrupt the elections. (Photo by Nic Bothma/EPA/EFE)