CREATING QUIETNESS: THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DESIGN IN THE PROCESS OF HEALING WAR VICTIMS

Mini Review

In the context of UN peacekeeping operations, considerations concerning shelters have traditionally focused on quick construction, structural safety, cost efficiency, and service provision. Even though all these concerns are certainly essential, they typically leave little room for addressing issues related to the quality of the mental space created by the built environment. An under-addressed issue is noise. In the camp setting, noise produced by vehicles, generators, public address systems, crowding, social activities, and poor-quality shelters can become a constant source of stress. For war survivors, and especially for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), noise is not merely an unpleasant environmental feature but a source of anxiety, hyper vigilance, sleep disturbances, and hesitation when accessing help. The current paper argues that acoustics should be viewed as a matter of protection and recovery, and not just an architectural one. Building on the literature on trauma, public health, humanitarian shelter, and gender-sensitive design, the discourse brings forth the concept of the "gendered soundscape" in order to explore why camp noise might affect women and survivors of GBV differently than other camp inhabitants. In addition, the paper advocates for the introduction of acoustic architecture – the use of noise-dissipating materials, the creation of shelter layouts conducive to reducing noise levels, silent spaces, and effective noise management strategies – into humanitarian shelter design and Protection of Civilians efforts. Although comprehensive acoustic retrofitting would prove difficult in fragile settings, there is a wide range of inexpensive options that can produce significant positive effects. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that acoustic quiet is intimately tied to dignity, privacy, psychological safety, and trauma recovery and that troop-contributing countries like Bangladesh can make valuable contributions to this agenda.

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