Actor Mike Lane, standing six feet 10 inches in his stocking feet, makes a perfect monster as he carries actress Nancy Knox down the stairs into Frankenstein's dungeon, February 28, 1958. They have featured parts in the upcoming Boris Karloff movie “Frankenstein 1970”. (Photo by David F. Smith/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)

A dancer practices prior to her audition to be Rockettes for the “2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” at Radio City Music Hall in in New York City, U.S., April 20, 2023. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

In this Saturday, April 13, 2019, file photo, Mariah Bell, center, of the U.S. reacts to her score with her teammates after performing her women's free program routine during the ISU World Team Trophy Figure Skating competition in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (Photo by Toru Hanai/AP Photo)

Soldiers patrol in Petion Ville, the neighborhood where the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 7, 2021. Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, and first lady Martine Moïse was shot in the overnight attack and hospitalized, according to a statement from the country’s interim prime minister. (Photo by Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo)

A woman uses a virtual reality (VR) headset to view images by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in Mexico City, Mexico, 23 May 2018. The technological giant Google launched the “The Faces of Frida”, an interactive digital exhibition that treasures the heartrending work of the Mexican artist to tell her story from different points of view, with attention to the invisible details. (Photo by Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA/EFE)

A female member of Romania's military adjusts her hat before taking part in the national day military parade in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, December 1, 2017. Thousands of Romanian troops staged a military parade to celebrate Romania's national day, but key politicians didn't attend, signaling tensions between the president and the ruling left-wing coalition over plans to revamp the justice system. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

A goose attacks an Orthodox believer as he leaves the icy waters of a pond during the celebration of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday in Kiev on January 19, 2018. Thousands of Ukrainian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)