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Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands to serve on CSW panel
Published: March 15, 2018
AKRON––Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands has been selected to serve on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) panel “County Justice/City Justice: Perspectives of Women Judges.”
The panel discussion is part of CSW’s 62nd Session annual meeting being held this week, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. This year’s theme is “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.”
Judge Rowlands is one of 20 members of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) selected to participate on the panel. IAWJ has over 5,000 members worldwide from 82 different countries. Rowlands also participated in the 61st CSW delegation in 2017.
The CSW annual meeting is one of many global events to commemorate Women’s History Month, including International Women’s Day (IWD).
IWD is an annual event held this year on March 8 that initiates the theme for the year and serves as a day to unify groups worldwide in their collective action for gender equality. In the spirit of unity, the CSW’s theme is consistent with IWD’s 2018 theme #PressforProgress for gender parity.
Access to justice is one significant barrier to gender parity. Regardless of geography, this is an issue Judge Rowlands deals with on a regular basis in Summit County, a county comprised of both urban and rural communities.
“While my court sits in a small city in Ohio, my daily work centers on women living very fragile existences throughout a county that is both somewhat urban and very rural. Regardless, they generally have little to no access to transportation, often lack housing and medical care for themselves and their children, and are frequent victims of every type of predation,” Judge Rowlands said.
Judge Rowlands believes that collective action is necessary to overcome such barriers.
“As women continue to face increasingly critical challenges, the need for global coalition in response is likewise increasingly critical,” Judge Rowlands said.
As such, Judge Rowlands is honored to be a part of the annual meeting and panel discussion.
“I believe my experience is beneficial to participating in and advancing the dialogue this year.”
The Honorable Mary Margaret Rowlands earned her juris doctorate from The University of Akron School of Law in 1989 and has been a judge since 2009.
Judge Rowlands is dedicated to diversity and equality in the legal profession, protecting individual rights, fairness and equality in the courts, and equal access to justice.
Judge Rowlands serves as the Ohio chair of the National Association of Women Judges District 7 which includes Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
The National Association of Women Judges’ mission is to “promote the judicial role of protecting the rights of individuals under the rule of law through strong, committed, diverse judicial leadership; fairness and equality in the courts; and equal access to justice.”