this is an exploratory and descriptive study based on qualitative research. the objective of this study is to identify and describe gender and racial discrimination in the health service experienced by black women with sickle cell anemia diagnosis. the data were collected in salvador- ba, in brazil, in 2006 through semi-structured interviews that were recorded and transcribed. for the data analysis the used technique was the collective subject discourse. the discourses offer to built a cluster of elements that illustrates how unfair, unkind and humiliating treatment. it is a naturalized phenomenon that indirectly reveals racial discrimination in the health service. the discourses also show situations in which people are exposed to embarrassing circumstances that affect human dignity.
