A man who insulted a female police officer because of her gender has become the first person to be convicted of sexism in a public space in Belgium.

The man, whose name has not been released, was stopped in Zaventem, a town outside Brussels, on June 6, 2016 to be questioned for jaywalking. He told the officer that her job did not suit women.

"Shut your mouth, I don't talk to women, being a police officer is not a job for women," the man told the police officer during the arrest, according to Gilles Blondeau, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office.

Initially, when the 23-year-old officer tried to stop him for questioning, he fled and had to be chased down in the middle of a local annual fair.

Although several police officers were present, the man only insulted the female officer. She arrested him and filed charges.