A growing online community is supporting expat fathers in Czechia

Jason Harley, a Prague-based expat from Liverpool, has lived in the Czech capital for over 10 years. A father of three, in 2020 together with a couple of other dads, Romanians Bogdan Tofan and Cladiu Isar, he launched a Facebook group inviting dads to "share cool things you do with your kids and cool places you've been to."

Today Dads in Prague is 900 members strong and since its inception, Harley says, has "Grown into a real community with dads posting daily to plan meet-ups (with or without kids), events, activities, or just give general advice in the forum."

So what challenges do the men in the group face and how does the online community help support expat dads in Czechia?

Harley says that for expats in a large city like Prague, it can be difficult to connect with like-minded dads to share experiences, learn, and support each other. "Mostly it's about activities with kids, recommendations, or suggestions that then lead to meet-ups."

Another, perhaps deeper connection the men in the group share is their passion for positive fatherhood, the notion of a positive paternal presence, one that reduces the burden placed upon mothers and that benefits men themselves – by strengthening their nurturing skills.

Harley says that men increasingly look to the forum to learn how to parent not only as a dad in Czechia but in today's rapidly changing society.

"The world has changed and dads are so much more involved in day-to-day childcare. Of course, nobody knows all the answers so it's great to be able to ask advice from dads who have faced similar challenges or are going through similar situations and those threads are super supportive and very positive," says Harley.

The community is also there for members who face challenges related to divorce and custody battles, which according to Harley is a common theme for expat dads in Czechia.

"Sadly we have a lot of separated dads in the group and with Father's Day coming up it can be a tough time if dads are being denied access or going through family courts to gain shared custody of their own kids."

Harley says that while shared custody is Czech law, he and a number of men he knows are facing courtroom battles with mixed results. "There are lots of experts in the group that help fellow members with this as well," he says.

Harley says that the group has become a safe space for dads to discuss these and other issues and as such, the members decided last year to keep the group limited to "dads only." He believes the policy has helped grow the community exponentially – the group has seen its number double in the past six months.

"There are some great parents and kids sites out there but we think we are the first one dedicated to 'Dads in Prague'," he tells us.