Women boycott clubs amid 'spiking epidemic' as 'Girls' Night In' campaign ...

A spiking victim has shared a chilling photo showing her unconscious in a hospital bed after suffering a seizure in a nightclub in Swansea amid demands to take the crime seriously as the 'Girls' Night In' campaign gathers pace. 

Students are planning to boycott nightclubs next week as part of nationwide protests, with more than 30 universities boycotting clubs in a bid to force venues to increase safety measures.

Following reports of spiking by needles in Nottingham, a petition calling for it to be a 'legal requirement' for nightclubs to 'thoroughly' search customers upon arrival has been signed by more than 130,000 people.

Meanwhile, two men have been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into spikings in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Police has said. 

A 35-year-old man was also last night arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to administer them at a night club in Lincoln.

Force commissioner Marc Jones tweeted: 'A superb arrest! We cannot accept people being unsafe when they go out with friends for a drink.  

'This arrest should send a huge signal to those would be criminals who look to prey on our community in this despicable way.'

It came as Kirsty Howells, 25, released a photo taken in hospital after she was spiked - when victims are drugged without their knowledge either physically with needles or via their drinks - with what is thought to be ketamine.

Ilana El-baz, 20, has also recalled how she was left semi-paralysed on a staircase after returning home from a Bristol nightclub three weeks ago.

The Girls' Night In campaign will spread across 43 university towns and cities over the next fortnight. 

It comes in response to a reported rise in drinks being 'spiked' and a new alarming trend of girls being injected unknowingly with drugs. 

Victims have become violently ill while out and only realised they had been injected when they found 'pin prick' marks on their bodies.

Those taking part in the boycott will stay at home on a designated night to raise awareness of the attacks and encourage venues to improve security.

New figures have also emerged showing 15 per cent of females, seven per cent of males and 17 per cent of those identifying as other have had their drink spiked, according to a snap poll by The Alcohol Education Trust.

The survey, which was open for a week from October 12 and had 747 responses, asked: 'Do you think you have ever had one of your drinks spiked?', with 94 replying yes and a further 26 saying 'maybe'. 

Helena Conibear, CEO of The Alcohol Education Trust, told MailOnline: 'Up until now, we have had extensive verbal evidence of the level of drink spiking and where it is taking place as we work with young people day to day across the UK. 

'This snap poll of 750 young people confirms all the trends we have been listening to: the shocking fact that one in eight young women have experienced spiking, that it is happening as often at private parties as in the night time economy and that most people do not report spiking at the moment as they worry they will not be believed, are unsure exactly what happened or feel it was too late by the time they realised.'

She added: 'As 50 per cent of cases where drink spiking was reported weren’t followed up, the lack of reporting is perhaps not surprising. If we are going to tackle drink spiking we ask everyone to please report it to the venue, police or go to A and E. 

'Try and keep the drink as evidence and ask for a blood or urine test. To anyone thinking it is a joke to spike someone’s drink, can we remind them that it is a serious criminal offence with up to a ten years prison sentence, not to mention the sometimes devastating effect it can have on victims' lives.'

Emily Bennett, 19, who is one of the boycott leaders at Manchester University, said: 'Obviously, we're concerned by the rise of spiking.'

The Liberation and Access Officer at the University of Manchester's Students' Union added: 'People need to feel safe going out and people doing the spikings need to know they can't, that venues won't accept it.

'The number of emails we've had from students saying 'we don't feel safe' and don't feel safe to go out.'

The boycott, which has been gaining momentum on Instagram under the account girlsnightinmanc, is spearheaded by the University of Manchester's Students' Union. 

Student Zara Owen, 19, told the BBC that she believes she was spiked through an injection on a night out in Nottingham.

Ms Owen blacked out shortly after arriving at a nightclub and later found a pin prick in her leg.Speaking to Mike Sweeney on BBC Radio Manchester this week, Andy Burnham discussed the issue of drinks being spiked.

He said: 'It's just completely off the scale. This thing is about again women and girl's safety, you know, I've said before Mike, my daughters tell me some of the things that happen when they're on nights out and it's just it's ridiculous.

'We thankfully, I've checked with GMP, haven't had many reports of this. Although there were some in the Fallowfield area at the time when the students were coming back to university.

'There was about five reports of drinks being spiked and we have looked into that.'

In Swansea, Ms Howells was out enjoying a drink earlier this month when she was spiked with an unknown substance that left her unconscious. 

She said she was 'very shaken' and now 'anxious' to go out drinking again any time soon.

She said: 'It's one of those things where you think it's never going to happen to you or someone you know, but it can happen to anyone.'

Uplands is usually seen as a 'quieter' alternative to Wind Street, but as Kirsty's ordeal shows, such incidents can happen anywhere.

Recalling the night, she said: 'I didn't drink much that night, maybe four drinks in total and I felt completely fine. I can remember everything up until around 12:30am, and everything after that is completely blank.' 

She was found 'laying face down' on a table outside the bar, completely unresponsive.

'Bouncers rang my partner who came to pick me up. I'm really grateful for that, because I have no idea what might have happened had they not helped me.'

On the way home with her partner, Kirsty blacked out and had a seizure before being rushed to A+E for an IV and oxygen.

She said: 'I remember seeing my partner and hugging him. I got into the car and then I completely blacked out again. 

'My partner said that we were halfway home and I started having a seizure, my body was all tense, my eyes were rolled back and my tongue was in the back of

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