Here AOAV finds that UK media outlets frequently present retired senior military figures as independent defence experts without disclosing their commercial ties to defence, security, intelligence, and technology industries, potentially obscuring conflicts of interest in public debates over war and military spending.
Two child-made paper aeroplanes folded from the British and American flags rest side by side on a school desk, suggesting a shared journey whose consequences lie beyond the innocence of the gesture.
A new UN report warns that civilians continue to bear the overwhelming burden of modern warfare, with explosive weapons in populated areas remaining a leading cause of death, injury and destruction, drawing on AOAV data to illustrate the scale of the crisis.
In 2025, AOAV recorded 49,814 deaths and injuries as a result of the use of explosive weapons around the world, the second-highest levels recorded since 2010. With 45,362 civilians among these casualties – 91% of all those reported killed or wounded by explosive weapons globally – 2025 was the second most injurious year for civilians since the EVMP began. 39% (17,614) of these civilians were reported killed.
Civilian harm from explosive weapons rose sharply in Ukraine last year, even as global casualty figures from such weapons fell, according to new data from Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), revealing how the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has become far more harmful for civilians with each individual strike.
A series of reports by Action on Armed Violence reveals that Britain’s military justice system is mired in secrecy, impunity, and institutional evasion, with elite units shielded from scrutiny, whistleblowers silenced, and the Ministry of Defence systematically resisting accountability.
The Ministry of Defence has admitted it lacks a dedicated unit to assess civilian harm from British military operations, prompting renewed criticism over the UK’s opaque and inadequate approach to protecting civilians in conflict.
AOAV’s report finds that Britain’s Armed Forces remain marked by class, gender and racial inequalities, with recruitment drawn from deprived youth, officer ranks dominated by the elite, and women and ethnic minorities facing persistent barriers despite diversity pledges — and sets out ways to fix it.
Drawing on first-hand testimony from asylum seekers fleeing Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan, this report examines how armed violence and international arms transfers, including UK exports, intersect with displacement, small boat crossings and the lived realities of Britain’s asylum system.
An AOAV investigation into 52 publicly acknowledged Israeli military probes since October 2023 reveals a systemic pattern of impunity, with 88% of cases either unresolved or closed without wrongdoing and only one resulting in a prison sentence despite more than 1,300 reported civilian deaths.
Did Britain's focus on discrediting lawyers and fixers accused of pursuing false claims in Iraq ultimately obscure credible evidence of civilian harm, leaving many Iraqi victims of British military action without investigation, recognition or justice?
AOAV details the blurred UK defence supply chain behind the weapon used in the Minab attack
The UK Ministry of Defence is accused of failing to recognise and properly document the long-term neuropsychiatric harm caused by the anti-malarial drug Lariam, leaving thousands of veterans misdiagnosed, unsupported, and unable to access treatment or compensation.
AOAV records, investigates and disseminates evidence of armed violence against civilians worldwide, to ensure the respect and protection of their rights and to end armed violence against civilians in conflict. This is a list of all reports published by Action on Armed Violence
This category looks into militaries and militarism, with a focus on Great Britain. From how the UK became one of the world’s leading arms exporters, to why we continue to export to nations with serious human rights concerns, to investigations into the UK’s armed forces, it seeks to challenge the contradictions and failures of British militarism, and the failure of other national militaries, today.
Here AOAV looks at global and – in particular – the UK’s arms exports with critical review and reflection
This category looks at all impacts of explosive violence, including monthly reports, country reports and other forms of explosive violence that cover both manufactured weapons and Improvised Explosive Devices.
More on Explosive violence research
Of all weapons of violence, guns cause the greatest harm. Global figures are hard to come by, but it is estimated that over half a million of people die from armed violence every year and the highest proportion of these will be at the end of a gun. This is just those killed by guns, countless more are wounded, or take their lives with one. AOAV seeks to stimulate the debate about guns and their role in violence through detailed research and focused advocacy.
Between 2011 and 2021, threats to kill involving a knife or sharp instrument across England and Wales rose by 342%. In 2021, London recorded the highest number of teenage homicides ever, with 30 male teenagers aged 14 to 19 being killed. Overall, in 2021, 74.4% of homicides in London were caused by a knife or sharp instrument. This research aims to highlight, explain and offer solutions to such harm.
AOAV examines the reverberating impacts from the use of explosive weapons.
More on Health and explosive violence
Here AOAV investigates how Britain’s military justice system routinely falls short of civilian standards, with a culture of secrecy, command influence, and weak oversight eroding accountability. From war crimes to sexual violence, our reporting exposes the legal and institutional barriers that protect power rather than deliver justice.
More on British military justice examined
This is a category that examines the entangled relationships between the British military, government, and arms industry, assessing how this nexus shapes defence policy, enables arms exports, and impacts civilian harm.
More on The British Military-Industrial complex scrutinised
Since 2011, AOAV has been recording the global harm wrought by explosive weapons on civilians. Through monitoring English language media reports, we demonstrate consistent patterns of harm arising from the use of explosive violence, in particular their effects on civilian populations. These reports are issued annually with monthly updates.
