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)

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)

Vegetables, wood and charcoal are loaded onto the roof of a battered Peugeot on November 7, 2018 in Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. From the port of Matadi to the capital Kinshasa, a 350 km road crosses the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Photo by Junior D. Kannah/AFP Photo)

Breitling Wingwalkers aircrafts perform during an aerobatic display at an air show in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, September 25, 201. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

U.S. players push head coach Adam Krikorian into the pool after they defeated the Netherlands in their women's water polo gold medal match during the Aquatics World Championships in Kazan, Russia, August 7, 2015. (Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters)

A young woman holds her smartphone at Red Square with the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower, right, and St. Basil Cathedral, center, in the background in Moscow, Russia, Monday, July 25, 2016. (Photo by Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo)

Participants in the 3rd Annual Amber Rose SlutWalk in Los Angeles, California. October 1, 2017. The event seeks to highlight issues such as: gender equality, ending rape culture, victim blaming and body shaming. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A female sniper of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) monitors the area during a celebration at the iconic Al- Naim square in Raqa on October 19, 2017, after retaking the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. The SDF fighters flushed jihadist holdouts from Raqa' s main hospital and municipal stadium, wrapping up a more than four- month offensive against what used to be the inner sanctum of IS' s self- proclaimed “caliphate”. (Photo by Bulent Kilic/AFP Photo)