Court delivers Belgium's first conviction of 'sexism in a public place'

A man has become the first person to be convicted of sexism in a public place in Belgium, after verbally abusing a female police officer because of her gender.

In November, a Brussels criminal court found the man guilty of sexism, slander and threatening a police officer and fined him €3000, or roughly $AU4760. 

The defendant had been approached by the female police officer in 2016 when she saw him jaywalking in Zaventem, a town outside Brussels.

When she attempted to question him he fled the scene, prompting several officers to chase him down.

“Shut your mouth, I don’t talk to women, being a police officer is not a job for women,” the man, then 23, told the female officer as she arrested him.

His conviction was the first under a law passed in Belgian Parliament in 2014 to criminalise sexist acts and statements made in a public place.

"The case was easy to prosecute."

The man did not appear in court, and faces jail time if he does not pay his fine.

However, he can appeal the conviction.