LONDON (Reuters) - Reports of women carrying out sex attacks on children have soared in the last five years, a charity said on Monday.

A young visitor in Trafalgar Square cools off in a fountain in the midday sun in London, July 15, 2003. REUTERS/Stephen Hird

ChildLine said there had been a 132 percent rise in reports of female sex abuse made to its telephone helpline, compared to a 27 percent rise in abuse by men in the same five-year period.

“Most sex abuse calls to ChildLine come from girls saying they were assaulted by a male,” said Sue Minto, head of the helpline.

“But a growing number of callers now say they were sexually abused by a female. Many would find it shocking that any woman -- let alone a mother -- can sexually assault a child. But they do.”

Britain has been stunned by a number of high profile sex abuse cases involving women in recent months.

Last month Vanessa George, a female nursery worker and a married mother-of-two admitted a string of sexual assaults and making indecent images of children.

One of George’s two co-accused who admitted similar charges was a woman.

ChildLine said last year it had heard from 2,142 children who said they had been abused by a woman, almost a quarter of all cases where the abuser’s gender could be identified.

The report said 1,311 children said they had been sexually abused by their mother, 61 percent of calls about female sex abuse, although more than twice as many said they had been abused by their father.

“This report reveals that ChildLine, by listening to the direct and authentic voices of abused children, has shattered common myths about sexual abuse,” said Esther Rantzen, President of ChildLine.

“It does not only happen to girls, as many people believe, it happens to boys too. Mothers can sometimes sexually abuse their sons.”