’Ilḫa’ūnā: Graphic Narratives and the Struggle for Gender Equality in Egypt: Doaa El-Adl as a Case Study

Abstract

This paper examines the role of graphic narratives in Egyptian women’s struggle for gender equality. Focusing on selected drawings by Doaa El-Adl, this paper analyzes their use in the Guardianship Is My Right campaign, launched by the Women and Memory Forum in 2021 and visually framed by El-Adl through the urgent call ’Ilḫa ’ūnā (“help”) to protest proposed amendments to Egypt’s personal status law. Through an episodic reading and a close analysis of the drawings’ linguistic, visual, and literary features, the study explores their thematic interconnections and argues that the fragmented structure of El-Adl’s graphic narratives functions as a distinctive form of visual storytelling. This structure not only reflects the legal and social challenges faced by Egyptian women but also allows for a multiplicity of interpretations grounded in their lived experiences.