@Negotiation4680, though I've never been a sex worker myself, fear of touch, especially from women is something I'm quite familiar with.
Before I met my lady in 2015, I suffered pretty extreme genophobia (fear of sex), to the point that I couldn't be out in public in anything less than a t shirt, and where I'd actively recoil if touched, something which made starting relationships very difficult.
This was all because of a lot of bullying and public humiliation from girls as a teenager, scratching, pinching, public stripping, getting progressively worse over years until it culminated in what was virtually public gang rape.
For this reason, abuse aside, I was a virgin before I met my lady at 33.
whilst we now have a very healthy physical side to our marriage, it did take work, and yes, being open.
Avoiding unexpected touch was a major part of things, and communicating a lot as well.
I also found a large amount of none sexual physical touch helped quite a lot, particularly for me, since my abuse had involved a lot of shaming, (I used to assume that even brushing a girl's arm would make me an abuser), so a lot of holding hands, cuddling, washing each other's hair and such, as well as taking things slowly.
Indeed, one thing I realised was that it was not necessarily touch itself that was the problem, so much as the manner of touch, EG grabbing vs stroking.
Another thing which my lady suggested, which proved very useful was reading through Alex comfort's the joy of sex together, discussing things, both in terms of what we might try, or what sort of experiences she'd had which I hadn't.
No, it hasn't always been easy, and I confess powerlessness is still a trigger I struggle with, but the good news is that whilst it isn't easy, it actually can! work if there is enough openness, and enough self-understanding, indeed I realised that for me, recovery just wasn't possible alone (it's a little hard to overcome genophobia on your own).
You might want to suggest your bf he use this site, indeed there is a section for survivors of abuse by women, since I will admit that for me, knowing that there were other guys who'd been through the same sort of thing actually was helpfu.
either way, best of luck to you and your bf.
Luke.