I think, in all honesty, that it helps a great deal to know there are other people who have survived. Many have lived through abuse in such ways that I could not begin to concieve of it. I believe one of the things that helped me was the fact my own mother had been raped by someone she trusted and survived. She was also mentally and emotionally abused by her family before this. This happened during a time and a location in the country in which if a woman was raped not only did she deserve it but she was a whore for allowing it to proceed.
My mom made it clear to me, when I was very young ( I developed way too early for my own good I think) that no man/woman has a right to do that to you. It is your right to say no (I made my choice not based on what my mom taught me but on the fear that I felt at the time). I think the fact I saw my mom survive and overcome it (she still has nightmares and some other issues) but she survived and LIVED. So often those who survive do just that until someone or something triggers in them that they have to do more than just be a survivor.
I realized myself that letting someone have that power over you (even after the initial incident) and let them dominant your life long after the abuse has occured is letting them win. Life is living, not just surviving. I'm glad to see so many of those of us who have been abused willing to step up to live to show their abusers that they are still alive and a little beaten but stronger for the ordeal.