Social Representations of Graduate Students in Psychology regarding trans people

The human rights of the trans population are violated because of heterocispatriarchy and the social representations generated, promoted, and reinforced by this hegemonic system. The objective of this article is to describe the social representations that students of a graduate program in psychology at a private university in Cali have about trans persons, as well as the needs and challenges they perceive in their professional work with this population. This is a qualitative, phenomenological-interpretative study, in which 45 students of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Health course voluntarily participated. The data were collected by natural semantic networks and discussion groups and were processed from the thematic analysis theory. The research conforms to the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, and autonomy. Likewise, it is based on accumulated knowledge under strict methodological rigor. It was classified as research with minimal risk. The social representations of some participants about trans persons are associated with stigmatizing and excluding aspects, which can be positively transformed in the interaction with the community in question. It is concluded that social representations play a fundamental role in the quality of health care. It is important to train health and social science students in sexuality, human interactions, self-care, respect for others and for oneself, as well as decision-making skills, assertive communication, critical thinking, and conflict resolution from a transaffirmative, gender and rightsbased approach.