Marvi Sirmed was born in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan on 11 June 1970. Her paternal family was agriculturist from Bhawalpur. Her father, Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq, was Directorate General of Public Relations Punjab until 2003. In her childhood she accompanied her mother in women’s protests.

In 1990s, Sirmed started getting involved in NGO activities along with her journalistic activities. In 2001–2002 she joined the Aurat Foundation’s Legislative Watch Programme. In 2004, she worked for The United Nations Development Programme in Pakistan, and simultaneously with the National Commission on the Status of Women, Federal Ministry of Women’s Development, and the Parliament of Pakistan.

As an outspoken advocate for human rights and secular democracy, Sirmed has attracted controversy among conservatives. In November 2007 she was arrested when she protested the 2007 emergency declared in Pakistan by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

Marvi Sirmed received the National Human Rights Award of the government of Pakistan in 2010 and Friend of the Parliament Award in 2012. Sirmed was a member of the executive council of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and serves as board chair of Bytes for All. She is fellow at National Endowment for Democracy. She has been a freelance journalist since 2016.

In 2012 and again in 2018, she was shot at by unidentified gunmen and escaped unhurt. Her home has three times been ransacked, with passports and documents being taken.

In 2016, Sirmed appeared on a live television debate with conservative Islamic scholar and parliamentarian Hafiz Hamdullah. Their argument escalated, leading Hamdullah to threaten her. Later when Hamdullah’s citizenship was challenged, she publicly supported him on the issue to criticize officials who saw a problem only with his citizenship and not with his other behavior.

On 3 March 2020, during live TV debates on Neo News, Sirmed interrupted Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar with the chant “Mera Jism Meri Marzi” (“My Body My Choice”). Qamar called the slogan shameful and made derogatory misogynist remarks about her and shamed her body which led to criticism and boycott of him by media fraternity.