jjj75--that's terrible.  I feel very sorry for your friend, and I hope she is able to find justice.  

If the local was male and she was alone with him, the police will unfortunately be slow to prosecute--partly it is because the attacker is local, but a lot of it has to do with male chauvinism.  I suspect that, depending on the situation, a male attacker would get away with an assault regardless of his nationality nine times out of ten (at least).  The exception would be males of a lower status assaulting a woman (i.e. an Sri Lankan gardener assaulting an Egyptian mother).