The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) has quietly paid out more than £8 million in compensation to children who were sexually abused by members of the British armed forces or while living on military bases, according to newly revealed figures. The revelations, obtained through a Freedom of Information request by openDemocracy, shed disturbing light on the scope of historic child sex abuse within Britain’s military institutions, raising fresh questions about accountability, safeguarding, and the ongoing failure to protect vulnerable young people.

Since 2017, at least 155 civil claims have been successfully brought against the MoD for non-recent child sex offences. The payouts, funded by taxpayers, have averaged around £52,000 per survivor. While the individual sums vary, lawyers argue that each one represents a life irrevocably scarred by abuse.

The annual compensation costs have risen significantly in recent years, starting at just £16,000 in 2017 and peaking at £2.5 million in 2023. The sharp increase coincides with growing public scrutiny following the launch of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in 2019, alongside the Truth Project, which provided survivors an official platform to share their testimonies.

Solicitor-advocate Ahmed Al-Nahhas of Bolt Burdon Kemp, a firm that specialises in representing service personnel, said the figures reveal a “stark and worrying picture” for the British military. He noted that payouts of this nature are not made lightly. “The MoD will not pay out compensation unless there was a finding of fault or a real risk that a court would hold it liable,” Al-Nahhas explained. “This usually points to failures to protect children or to vet individuals in positions of trust.”

Behind the statistics lie devastating personal stories.........

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