A girl performs martial arts during a function to mark International Women's Day at a school in Hyderabad, India, on March 7, 2014. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./Associated Press)

A girl from Newar community is pictured with vermillion powder on her forehead as she takes part at the Ihi ceremony in Bhaktapur, Nepal on December 6, 2019. The two-day ceremony begins with purification rituals and ends with “Kanyadan” (giving away the virgin) of the girl by her father. A Newari girl gets married thrice in her life, first with Bel, the fruit of a wood-apple tree, secondly with the sun, and lastly with her future husband. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)

A devotee looks at the camera as she offers prayers to the setting sun during the “Chhath” festival at Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 26, 2017. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A sadhu (Hindu holy man) smokes marijuana using a “chillum”, a traditional clay pipe, as a holy offering during the Hindu festival “Maha Shivaratri” in Kathmandu on February 21, 2020. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A Nepalese mother applies make up to her daughter dressed as the living goddess Kumari as they wait for Kumari puja to start at Hanuman Dhoka temple, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, September 14, 2016. Girls under the age of nine gathered for the Kumari puja, a tradition of worshiping young prepubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in the Newar community that seeks divine blessings to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A girl watches the members of Nepali ethnic Newar community participating in “Jyapu Day” celebrations that marks the end of the harvest season, in Kathmandu on December 26, 2023. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A girl receives Covid-19 vaccine as Nepal Government begins vaccinating children aged 5-12 at a school in Kathmandu on June 23, 2022. (Photo by Aryan Dhimal/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A young girl pulls on her braids during the Red Head Days festival in Tilburg, Netherlands, Saturday, August 30, 2025. (Photo by Virginia Mayo/AP Photo)