I was cut when I was seven years old. Four women held me down. I felt every single cut. I was screaming so much I just blacked out. I didn't know what female genital mutilation (FGM) was until the day it happened to me. FGM is one of the worst physical and psychological scars a girl can be left with and I therefore completely endorse and welcome the new report on tackling FGM.

The report, by a coalition of health professionals, stems from protecting the girl child and supporting the women who are affected by FGM. It reminds all frontline staff working with women and children that they are in the position of being able to prevent FGM. As a campaigner and survivor of FGM, if this report is endorsed and implemented in all departments including the Home Office and departments of health and education, I am truly confident that many girls in the UK will be saved from this vile practice.

A key point of the report, Tackling Female Genital Mutilation in the UK, launched on Monday in the House of Commons, is about holding frontline professionals accountable and empowering them to act to prevent this. Reporting abuse should not be an opt-in or opt-out matter. Also very important is implementing an awareness campaign; I believe FGM should be given the same publicity as HIV and knife crime. Historically there has been such a lack of urgency in confronting and tackling it – we seem to be closing our ears and pretending it's not happening.

The most important aspect of the report is to treat FGM as a safeguarding issue, as it is child abuse and needs to be stopped. One misconception is that it is similar to male circumcision. It's much more painful, it can lead to serious and sometimes life-threatening complications and there is no medical reason to do it. Another misconception is that it is something only practised by Muslims, but it has nothing to do with religion and isn't mentioned in any of the holy books or condoned by any religion. It is happening to British girls and the numbers are staggering – in England and Wales, more than 24,000 girls are at risk and more than 66,000 women are living with the consequences of FGM. It is time we took a stand.

The Home Office must take responsibility for drawing up and enforcing a national strategy and action plan to eliminate FGM in the UK, says Leyla Hussein

I have been heading up a campaign to ask the government to take charge and demanding we stop FGM in the UK for good. It has been filmed as part of a documentary for Channel 4. During filming I looked at British attitudes to FGM and raising awareness among people in this country, as well as visiting practising communities and challenging them to look at why this is happening. My colleagues in Europe often say to me that Britain is a soft touch because their girls are being brought over to the UK to be cut. I think that's a clear sign that not enough is being done to tackle it. To me, cultural sensitivity is one of the biggest barriers to stopping FGM in Britain. One of the most powerful and disturbing parts of the filming for me was when, to demonstrate that we are walking on cultural eggshells in Britain, I took to the streets asking people to sign a petition in favour of FGM. I was shocked that in less than 30 minutes I got 19 signatures. The fact that people thought it was OK because it's someone's culture, was really scary.

Despite increased activities around FGM, we're still failing to effectively stop this form of child abuse. We have multi-agency guidelines that are not statutory and very little is practically being done at local level. Funding is minimal and no one is monitoring the situation or holding anyone to account, so let's push the Home Office to take responsibility for drawing up and enforcing a national strategy and action plan to eliminate FGM in the UK.

You could save a girl – and every signature counts. Please sign my petition.

• The Cruel Cut is on Channel 4 on Wednesday 6 November at 10.45pm.