Among the most important proposals are a clear assistance provision procedure and faster institutional response.
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“We want to create a system that helps the person, rather than the person having to figure out what to do,” said Reda Jureliavičiūtė, co-founder of “Ribology,” at a conference in the Seimas this week.
“As a result, guidelines were created – these are recommendations intended for healthcare institutions and beyond (…). First and foremost, it is important to have an algorithm and a very clear path of what to do. And no matter which part of the chain the person enters, they should receive help equally well,” she said.
The working group found that one of the main problems is inconsistent and insufficiently coherent application of regulations in practice.
“Ribology” and “Vilnius Night Office” conducted a survey of healthcare professionals, with more than 200 respondents participating. According to the data, more than 80% of respondents indicated they did not feel prepared to provide assistance, and more than 70% would not know how to act if a person affected by sexual violence and possibly intoxicated with psychoactive substances sought help at the institution.
49% of respondents said that the assistance algorithm is unclear or unknown to them, and 42% did not know whether their institution is one of the five hospitals authorized to provide assistance to people affected by sexual violence.
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The prepared guidelines propose adopting a unified inter-institutional legal act and establishing clear assistance algorithms depending on which institution the person first contacts, enabling biological samples to be taken at the first prepared healthcare institution, and in specified cases – without waiting for a police assignment.
Institutions are urged to clearly regulate the procedures for sample collection, storage, transfer, examination, and payment, and to set a storage period of no less than six months.
According to the guideline authors, authorized healthcare institutions need to establish the function of a case coordinator and ensure the availability of psychological assistance from the first moment of contact, as well as strengthen specialists’ competencies, systematically collect data, and periodically evaluate how the assistance algorithm works in practice.
Additionally, it is proposed to approve internal procedures in institutions, clearly define the criteria for involving a forensic medical expert, establish a standard for informing victims, strengthen principles of professional ethics and responsibility, and improve assistance provision in cases where institutions are contacted more than 72 hours after the incident.
In 2024, 13 pre-trial investigations were initiated in Lithuania regarding suspected sexual violence involving psychoactive substances. Seven of these were discontinued due to lack of evidence of a criminal offense. In 2025, 12 such investigations were initiated – one was discontinued, and the outcomes of the others are currently unknown.
