By Urtė Šlevaitė, LRT TV, LRT.lt.

People who have survived drug-facilitated sexual assault in Lithuania say they are being let down by a system with too few specialist services, no reliable way to preserve evidence, and long waits for care. The country’s social security ministry says changes are coming, but for now, campaigners say, survivors are often left to navigate the process largely on their own.

“A black screen, then nothing”

Ten years ago, comedian and human rights advocate Vita Žiba was sexually assaulted after being drugged. She says it took her a while afterwards to understand what had happened to her.

“First of all, you barely remember anything, because those drugs are usually designed specifically to suppress memory. I just remember having one drink, then another, and then – a black screen. The next thing I remember is being in some room, I don’t even know where, with some man’s hands all over me,” she said.

When Žiba shared her story on social media, she received an outpouring of support – within a week, roughly 800 women had come forward with their own experiences of sexual violence. But she also faced abuse online.

“A lot of older men wrote things like ‘you had it coming’, ‘it’s your own fault’, or ‘you should be grateful someone wanted you’,” she said.

Read more: LRT.LT