44.—(1) Nothing in Parts III to V shall—
(a)be construed as affecting a provision to which this paragraph applies, or
(b)render unlawful an act which is done in order to give effect to such a provision.
(2) Paragraph (1) applies to a provision for conferring benefits on persons of one sex only (disregarding any benefits to persons of the opposite sex which are exceptional or are relatively insignificant), being a provision which is contained in a charitable instrument.
(3) In this Article—
(a)“charitable instrument” means a statutory provision or other instrument passed or made for charitable purposes, or a statutory provision or other instrument so far as it relates to charitable purposes;
(b)“charitable purposes” means purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of Northern Ireland.