FRANKLIN -- The girls, from a shelter for human trafficking victims, were singing in a church in Cambodia when Nathan Cecil noticed the littlest child, warbling "Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man."

"What's her story?" he asked. He was told she was 5 years old. And she too was a trafficking survivor

"When I heard that — I had a daughter at the time who was 5 years old — I thought, Who in the world? Why in the world is this happening?" Cecil said. "Something tugged in my heart, and since then I've moved closer and closer, doing more and more to fight this evil."

For the past five years, doing more has meant leading the Center for Global Impact, a Johnson County-based nonprofit that provides training and jobs for women and girls in Cambodia who have survived or are at high risk of human trafficking.

The center's footprint stretches half way around the world, but it's also close to home. CGI recently opened byTavi, a fair trade boutique, on the busy town square here.

So what's special about yet another women's clothing store? Trafficking victims, trained and employed by CGI, make the sweaters, skirts and handbags sold in the shop, 51 W. Monroe St. And the store's profits in turn pay the Cambodian seamstresses' salaries and benefits.

Each item in the store also contains a tag with the name of the Cambodian woman who made it. A photo display in the shop features images of the women, their Khmer names and the English translations, and each woman's prayer requests. The idea is to help shoppers begin to understand that these trafficking survivors, although nearly 9,000 miles away, are real people with everyday needs and concerns.

ByTavi items are available at several other locations in Indiana and other states, including Northview Christian Church in Carmel and Grace Church in Noblesville.

During a visit this week at the store, I asked CGI Board member Joyce Long about how her work with the organization has changed her perspective. "The world is not as kind and gentle as I once thought," she said. "The breadth of depravity not only breaks my heart but God's heart as well. I thought slavery was something from the 1800s. It's not."

Let's pause here to talk about scale. As Long noted, slavery has not been relegated to the past. The International Labour Organization estimates that 20.9 million people are forced to work against their will in factories and fields, fishing boats and brothels. About 4.5 million people, mostly women and girls, are involuntarily trapped in the sex trade. And an estimated 1.2 million children are raped for profit each year.

The victims aren't isolated to other parts of the world. A Department of Justice-funded study released in 2016 found that about 10,000 children are exploited in the sex trade in the United States each year. Last year, more than 120 child sex trafficking victims were identified in Indiana, including an 11-year-old girl from Hamilton County. Last fall, Indianapolis police raided six erotic massage parlors and rescued more than a dozen women trafficked from China. The Polaris Project estimates there are more than 6,000 illicit massage businesses, where trafficking victims are forced to perform sex acts, in the U.S.

It's not hyperbole to say that most Americans are surrounded by victims of human trafficking whether in small towns, suburbs or cities.

►Swarens:In Hamilton County, child sex trade festers

People have two common reactions when exposed to the realities of modern-day slavery. The first is horror that such awful things happen to so many people. Many ask, as Nathan Cecil asked, why is this happening? The second is a sense of being overwhelmed. What could I possibly do to help change such a massive problem?

My answer: Do what you can.

Cecil has made a dozen trips to Cambodia in recent years to assist trafficking victims. Few people can do anything on that scale. But a lot of people can buy free trade products, including those sold at byTavi. A lot of people can help raise awareness about the realities of human trafficking in Indiana, the United States and the world. (If you can do nothing else, share this column on Facebook, and ask your friends to read and share it. A growing number of trafficking victims are identified and receive help because of increased public awareness).

A lot of people doing a lot of small but important things can make a lasting difference in the lives of people here and around the world.

Yes, even buying fair trade products can help. A woman with a steady job and reliable income is at far less risk of exploitation. Her children are much less vulnerable as well.

Sometimes a blouse is more than a blouse, a purse is more than a purse. Sometimes it's a life line that helps a trafficking survivor rise out of the depths of suffering.

Contact Swarens at tim.swarens@indystar.com. Friend him on Facebook at Tim Swarens; follow him on Twitter @tswarens.

Coming this fall: Used Children

IndyStar opinion director and columnist Tim Swarens, with the support of a Society of Professional Journalists grant, has been reporting for the past year on child trafficking in the United States and abroad. The resulting project, Used Children, is planned for publication this fall by the USA Today Network, which includes IndyStar. If you would like to join a Facebook group to learn more about human trafficking and to engage in conversations about how to stop it, please email Swarens at tim.swarens@indystar.com.