Girls accompany grooms as they sit separate from the brides during a mass wedding for 150 couples in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2015. The wedding was funded by al-Basheer Society for Relief and Development. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

Girls cry as they get separated from their family at the border line dividing Macedonia and Greece August 21, 2015. At least 1,000 migrants and refugees pressed against Macedonian police lines on the Greek-Macedonian border on Friday and at least 10 people appeared to faint in the crush. People could be heard screaming and medical workers raced to treat those who passed out or were hurt. The crush ensued after police let several hundred through into Macedonia, having kept them out since Thursday under an emergency decree. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

A Japanese girl participates in a calligraphy contest to the celebrate the New Year in Tokyo January 5, 2015. Over 3,000 calligraphers, having qualified in country wide competitions throughout Japan, took part in the annual contest to celebrate the new year. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

Gurung girls wearing traditional costumes dance while taking part in a New Year parade in Kathmandu, Nepal December 30, 2015. Members of the Gurung community in Nepal celebrate their Tamu Lhosar or Losar (New Year) with a feast and various cultural programs to usher in the year of the Monkey. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A decorated dish of rice with spinach sauce and egg white is seen at a Hello Kitty-themed Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong, China May 21, 2015. The world's first Chinese-style restaurant dedicated to the Japanese cartoon has been packed out daily despite not officially opening until June 1, 2015. The eatery features some 37 dishes such as dim sum and fried rice, often served in the shape of the girl-cat. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A girl floats in a bucket in the village of Ologa in the western state of Zulia October 23, 2014. This year the Catatumbo Lightning was approved for inclusion in the 2015 edition of Guinness World Records, dethroning the Congolese town of Kifuka as the place with the world's most lightning bolts per square kilometer each year at 250. Scientists think the Catatumbo, named for a river that runs into the lake, is normal lightning that just happens to occur far more than anywhere else, due to local topography and wind patterns. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Cuban girls dressed as nurses and a lizard wait for their turn to dance during a visit by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington in Havana July 13, 2015. The choir made its first appearance on July 12, 2015 in Cuba as part of a tour that will include a dozen concerts in the context of the restoration of relations between the island and the United States. (Photo by Enrique de la Osa/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)