London ( CNN ) -- `` All I can remember is being held down and the pain . I think it will haunt me forever , '' the young girl told counselors . `` I try to avoid talking about what happened to me because I think people will judge me , but I 'm scared that if I do n't tell , it will happen to other girls . '' What happened to the girl is genital mutilation . She 's one of more than two dozen girls to get counseling this year through Britain 's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children , and new figures out Monday suggest what happened to her is part of a much bigger problem in England and Wales . The charity 's helpline for female genital mutilation concerns has fielded nearly 300 calls already this year , and referred an average of nearly one case a day to police or children 's services , the group said Monday . The society 's figures come on the same day that a major new report suggests there are more than twice as many women affected by or at extreme risk of female genital mutilation as previously thought in England and Wales . The report estimates that 137,000 women are affected or at risk of FGM , as the practice is called . The study is based on a new examination of 2011 United Kingdom census data , an effort to determine how many women and girls have moved to the country from places where the practice of mutilation is common . The last major report on the problem in England and Wales , in 2007 , estimated that there were 66,000 women affected in the country and 24,000 at risk . It was based on the 2001 census . There are 29 countries where FGM is practiced , mostly in Africa , according to the report from City University London and the campaign group Equality Now . The report estimates that there are an additional 60,000 girls up to 14 years old whose mothers suffered FGM . And though the report does n't say so , those girls must be considered to be at risk of it themselves . The British government is trying to fight the problem . It has issued guidelines ordering hospitals and schools to be on the lookout for signs of FGM , such as girls being taken out of school early for summer vacation for extended trips to Africa . Three out of 10 callers to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children helpline were worried about children being taken to Nigeria , and about 16 % expressed fears for girls being taken to Somalia . Half the calls to the helpline were from professionals , including teachers and health care workers , the charity said . The charity did not name the girl it cited as it released its figures . The Department of Health has ordered hospitals to report signs of genital mutilation , but the first statistics are n't due until September . And in March , the Crown Prosecution Service launched its first effort to get convictions for FGM -- of a doctor and a person who encouraged the practice . They 're due to go on trial on January 13 , 2015 . Female genital mutilation has been specifically outlawed in England and Wales since 1985 . UNICEF estimates that at least 125 million women and girls around the world have been subjected to FGM , the `` partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons . '' As many as 30 million girls under the age of 15 may still be at risk , UNICEF says , although the practice appears to be declining . Mutilations are normally performed by people with no formal medical training , without anesthetics , using crude instruments such as knives , scissors or razor blades , the City University study says . Experts tie it to specific ethnic groups rather than religion or country and say there 's a variety of justifications , including diminishing or controlling female sexual desire . 2013 Report : Millions of girls still at risk of female genital mutilation . Woman challenges tradition , brings change to her Kenyan village .
The number of people at risk is more than twice as high as previously thought , report says . A children 's charity says it refers 125 million case a day to police or children 's services . English prosecutors launched their first genital mutilation case September . the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children estimates that nearly one girls and women around the world have been mutilated .