The Ministry of Defence has paid out more than £8.3 million in compensation to settle sexual assault and abuse claims outside of court, the Daily Express can reveal.
Figures seen by this newspaper show the British Army paid out £2,658,405, the Royal Navy £2,557,843 and the Royal Air Force £3,120,650 between 2018 and 2023.
The total compensation bill came to £8,336,898 in 94 cases, meaning the average paid per investigation was £88,690.
The alarming disclosure will prompt renewed concern over the culture within the British Armed Forces.
Sarah Atherton, a military veteran who wrote a scathing review into the experiences of women in the Armed Forces, told the Daily Express: “Service women remain highly sceptical that justice is delivered through the military judicial system.
“This is despite the recent changes implemented by the MoD in response to the recommendations following my ground-breaking Defence Committee inquiry into the experiences of women in our Armed Forces.
“More broadly, much more needs to be done to clamp down on the misogynistic and toxic culture, which prevails in certain units. This starts from the top.
“For these 150 victims, justice was only served through the civilian courts. The military complaints system needs to reflect, acknowledge and take action if they are to recruit and retain Britain’s best and brightest.”
The compensation bill is likely to soar further, with another 41 cases still being assessed.
Just 15 investigations were shelved without any damages being awarded.
Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney said: “This is horrifying. The fact that our armed forces have been forced to pay millions in damages payouts should be raising alarm bells for Ministers at the MoD.
“Sexual abuse has no place in our society, not least in the forces that are meant to keep us all safe.
“We need a swift and clear statement from Conservative Ministers as to how they are going to address this clear issue in our armed forces.”
Research by the University of York, published in November, found that some women were being punished for breaches of military rules when making a report of sexual violence.
Many female service personnel felt isolated, bullied and let down by their commanders.
Report authors revealed: “One participant told the authors of the report that, following her report of rape, her superiors ordered that potential evidence be deleted from mobile phones, because of a concern that photos or videos would end up on social media:
“Basically they couldn’t have anything that would expose them to anything. Basically covering up,” she said.
“Others suggested that the concern over keeping stories of sexual violence out of the media was particularly powerful when there were senior officers involved: “anything that they can keep out of the media they will… especially if there’s rank involved, you know, if there is a high-ranking officer, abuse of power, they absolutely don’t want that making the media.”
In November, the head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, was forced to apologise to female members of the Red Arrows who were treated like “property”.
A scathing report revealed women would attend events as a group, forming a “shark watch” to catch their predatory male colleagues targeting them.
And they would stop drinking on social engagements to make sure their allegations would not be dismissed if they were attacked.
The female pilots and staff also changed what they wore to avoid attention.
A shocking section of the report revealed how female aviators were desperately trying to avoid the sexual harassment they were regularly enduring.
It said: “Female service personnel naturally supported each other and reported modifying their behaviours to reduce the risk of being subject of unacceptable behaviour or ensuring that they would be believed if they needed to report an incident.
“The modification of their behaviour included going to social situations as a group with ‘shark watch’ in operation within their cohort, limiting the amount of alcohol consumed in order to be able to respond effectively if they were subject to unacceptable behaviour and to ensure their account would be believed and not dismissed due to consumption of alcohol and modifying what they wear.”
Male personnel joked of a colleague’s attitude to a female aviator: “he would be lurking in the corridor outside her room”, “he followed her around like a lovesick puppy” and “no-one took it seriously – look at him”.
The head of the Royal Navy also ordered an investigation into “abhorrent” claims of “sexual bullying” in the submarine service.
Submariners compiled a “crush depth rape list” in which women were ranked in the order they should be raped in a catastrophic event, and that women were frequently screamed at, called c**** and hit with clipboards and pens.
And an internal British Army report revealed Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, is thought to have taken her own life after being sexually harassed by her boss.
She received more than 1,000 messages and voicemails in October 2021. This increased to more than 3,500 in November,
The report found significant evidence of inappropriate sexual behaviour from male soldiers towards female soldiers at the Larkhill garrison, with one witness describing routinely receiving comments from male soldiers that were “vile” and “degrading”, according to the Centre for Military Justice (CMJ), which is representing the family.
A Parliamentary report, written by Ms Atherton, who was part of the Intelligence Corps before becoming an MP, revealed almost two thirds of women have experienced bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination during their career.
Sixty senior women at the Ministry of Defence have also warned of a “hostile” and “toxic” culture within the department.
In a letter, they alleged sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues. It included accounts of women being “propositioned”, “groped” and “touched repeatedly”.
According to the letter, attempts by women at the MoD to speak out against the behaviour “are generally minimised rather than listened to, and it is common knowledge among women that [the MoD’s] complaints system is not fit for purpose”.
The Ministry of Defence has been contacted for comment.
